A New Enemy
by Silvermoon77
Summary: Harry Potter Charmed x.over Wyatt and Chris gets sent to attend Hogwarts. Cole is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. And when Voldemort becomes the new Source, the wizarding world is in desperate need of the Charmed Ones' help.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own neither Charmed nor Harry Potter.

A/N: Just an idea that popped into my head a while ago. I know, the title isn't exactly exciting or original :P This'll mostly follow the plot of book 6 although some changes will have to be made, obviously. And Leo never stopped being a Whitelighter (none of the stuff with the Titans ever happened). Traditional pairings.

**Chapter 1**

A dozen torches flickered dimly along the walls of the vast cavern in the Underworld, casting a shadowy gloom over the dark and evil atmosphere. Low chanting hummed through the air. A mass of demons stood in a circle, surrounding a tall, thin figure clad in a black robe.

Among the usual demonic crowd, however, a few stood out. Newcomers, they were. Less knowledgeable, perhaps, about the demonic world, but certainly no less evil. Unlike the others, these few wore hooded cloaks that covered the ghostly masks they wore underneath. From time to time, two words could be heard snaking through the throng of bodies. _Death Eaters…_

The attention of all present was, at the moment, fixated upon the pale features of the black-clad figure.

The Underworld was about to crown its new Source.

* * *

"Morning, Mom, Aunt Phoebe. Sorry, late for school, gotta go. Bye," Sixteen year old Wyatt grabbed a piece of toast and dashed out the door, backpack slung over one shoulder. A moment later, a bleary eyed, tousle-haired Chris tumbled down the stairs. Muttering a hurried and irritated goodbye to his mother and aunt, he followed his brother out the door. 

"Not a morning person, I see," Phoebe said to Piper, smiling.

Piper laughed a little and passed Phoebe a glass of orange juice. She'd just set a platter of pancakes down on the table when Paige orbed in.

"All right, what's the big emergency?" Paige asked, stifling a yawn.

"We don't know yet," Piper answered her. "Leo got called away for a meeting with the Elders late last night, and he's not back yet. I just thought we should all be here when he returns. It seemed important, as we were…" a tinge of red crept into her cheeks, "in the middle of something when he left," she finished sheepishly.

Paige and Phoebe both laughed.

"Well, there's nothing we can do until Leo comes back. So let's eat. I'm starved!" Paige grinned and spiked a pancake with her fork.

After all these years of non-stop demon fighting, life has finally slowed down a bit for the Charmed Ones. Piper and Leo had been able to raise their sons with at least a little resemblance to a normal life, allowing them to send Wyatt and Chris to school, just like any other parents would. Of course, in their spare time the boys still studied with their father at the other school, Magic School, learning the necessary skills that would enable them to carry on the Halliwell legacy.

As for Paige, she had been the one most opposed to a quiet life, eagerly jumping at any chance to seek out and vanquish whatever demon happened to be pestering the three sisters at the time. That all changed after she met Henry. Paige had settled down somewhat, content to make a new life with her husband raising their daughter. Young Melinda Mitchell bore a sharp resemblance to her mother, with a head of long, beautiful dark hair that contrasted strikingly with her delicate pale skin and serious blue eyes that mirrored those of her father's.

And Phoebe? She was the only one of the sisters to have yet to start a family of her own. Ever since she found out what had happened to Cole in the alternate reality Paige returned from, Phoebe hadn't been the same. At times she'd stare off into space, lost in some of her innermost memories. Not even Cupid, master of love, or Coop as they liked to call him, had been able to free her from the wall she'd built around her heart.

Oh, she'd gone on with her life normally enough. Her career had rose on a fast track as her column got signed on by some of the more widely read newspapers around the country. She'd even moved out of the Manor and got a cozy little apartment of her own. Phoebe had seen other men, and for a while it even seemed as though she and Coop had something together. But she'd pushed him away, for some unknown reason even she couldn't explain. For all the cheerful front Phoebe put on, Piper and Paige knew that she was hurting inside. Yet they were powerless to do anything about it.

Nevertheless, life had moved on for them all, in its usual chaotic way. An incident of some amusement occurred a few years back. A potion had backfired upon the sisters, temporarily halting their aging for several years. After much scolding from Leo and the Elders (they were competent enough witches, after all…well, _most_ of the time, anyways), things proceeded as it usually did, although all three of them were now only in their early thirties. Still, no harm done.

On a much more serious note, the Charmed Ones made a discovery two years ago that shook the very foundation of everything they thought they knew. It turned out that there existed an entire other world of magical beings. Witches and wizards, but not in the traditional sense. It was amazing, really, how such a large community had remained hidden all these years. They governed themselves efficiently enough, hiding their existence so not even the Elders had been able to sense them. But a power surge of such magnitude as the Dark Lord's return to power two years ago could not go unnoticed.

Ever since then, the Charmed Ones had put forth tremendous effort in familiarizing themselves with the ways of the other magical world. Even Wyatt and Chris were now well versed in the ways of the wizarding community, having ploughed diligently through the spell books their father brought home from one of his many forays into Diagon Alley.

Leo had brought the boys with him once. They'd returned home with a magnificent great horned owl, much to Piper's dismay, their pockets stuffed full of various sweets – Wyatt had nearly choked on liver flavored jelly bean – and a new wand apiece. All this was done in preparation for the eventuality that the two worlds might someday clash.

That day wasn't as far off as they thought.

* * *

The villa sat nestled between the rolling hills of the English countryside. A luxurious, well-kept green lawn sprawled from the three story residence. The estate was all together too spacious for the man who'd lived there alone for the past fourteen years. But perhaps "man" wasn't quite the right word to describe him. 

By all rights, Cole Turner should have been dead, vanquished that fateful day sixteen years ago. He had relinquished his invincibility, or so he had thought, for another chance to get Phoebe back. The Avatars had informed him that he only possessed his old Belthazor powers in the alternate reality he created, and he'd believed them. But apparently, the many powers he'd picked up in the demonic wasteland couldn't just simply disappear.

The Avatars had been wrong. The powers were locked onto his very essence. He might not have been able to use them in that alternate reality, but they certainly still existed in the other planes. So it was these powers that took the blunt of that vanquish potion. Now he was left only with the ability to shimmer and to cast energy balls. The sisters thought he was dead, and he had to admit, it had hurt like hell, both physically and emotionally, when they'd tried to vanquish him.

The aftermath of the potion had blown him from realm to realm. Until Cole had recovered enough to get his strength back, he had been too weak to remain anchored in one plane for long periods of time, always sifting from one place to another. It was during these chaotic transportations through time and space that he'd stumbled upon the inhabitants of this other magical world. He had marveled at the fact that they'd made their existence unknown to even the Elders and the Source. However, with his discovery also came the realization that the Charmed Ones now faced a potential new threat, every bit as menacing and evil as the demons of the Underworld had been, and still were. The possibility that the sisters might suffer at the hands of Voldemort and his followers filled him with a sense of foreboding.

Phoebe. The very though of her name had once sent daggers into his heart. For the longest time, Cole had tried to convince himself that they still had a chance, that she still loved him, and that she didn't really mean what she'd done. But he couldn't deny what he'd known all along. He'd seen the way she looked at him when she threw that vanquish potion, calm and determined, with not even a thought of the love they'd shared. It was almost as if she had hated him, and then she'd moved on as if their love had counted for nothing.

Even after everything that's been said and done, though, he knew that he still loved her. A part of him always will, but he also knew that they would never be together again. Cole had tried to put the hurt and betrayal behind him, to move on with a new life. The ache in his heart had gradually dulled to a low throb, but it was there.

So Cole had immersed himself in this new world of wands and spells, hoping to distract himself from brooding on the past. And it had worked, mostly. He'd established a tentative relationship with Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Dumbledore was the now the only person in the Wizarding community who was aware of the existence of a separate world of magic.

Eventually, Dumbledore had come to trust him enough to help him acquire a sleek black wand from Olivanders. Cole devoured spell books hungrily, building his knowledge of the wizarding world. He was personally responsible for the death or capture of several Death Eaters. What his wand couldn't accomplish, an energy ball always finished the job, and vice versa for the demons of the Underworld. By reducing the number of Death Eaters, he was reducing the chance that they might someday hurt the Charmed Ones. He didn't want anything to happen to Phoebe, not when he could have prevented it.

Cole snapped his head up suddenly, every nerve alert as one of the spells he'd placed around the house warned him of a magical intruder. He was dressed casually, in a pair of jeans and a plain white tee. A large German shepherd bounded toward the door, aware of his master's sudden change in behavior. Cole had acquired the dog a few years ago out of sheer loneliness, and Tynan had since proven to be a loyal companion. Cole grabbed Tynan's collar, made sure his wand was within reach, and reached out to open the door.

The wizard standing on his front steps blinked as the door flew open, his hand poised to knock. Dumbledore beamed at Cole from behind half-moon spectacles.

"Impeccable timing," he told Cole as he swept past him into the manor.

Cole sighed as he let go of Tynan and closed the door.

"You could have called ahead," he said to Dumbledore, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Bah, muggle electronics."

Dumbledore settled himself comfortably on the couch and appraised Cole with a steady gaze. Tynan flopped down beside him and Dumbledore absently scratched him behind the ears.

"Uh, so I take it the information I provided you was correct?" Cole asked him.

"It was," Dumbledore reassured him but said nothing more. Cole nodded. He had noticed that Dumbledore's left hand was blackened and shriveled, no doubt as a result of destroying Marvolo's ring. Dumbledore took out the ugly, cracked black and gold ring and handed it to Cole.

"Horcruxes…" Cole whispered softly, studying the ring. He shook his head. Here was a foe more powerful than any the Charmed Ones have ever met before. One who had split his soul and could not be so easily vanquished.

"Thank you, Cole," Dumbledore told him, "I would not have known about the ring or been able to find it if it wasn't for you. But I'm afraid I must ask another favor of you," Dumbledore said in a grave voice. "Another year has gone, and Hogwarts is in need of yet another Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

It took a while for the full meaning of Dumbledore's words to sink in.

"You want me to…?" Cole shook his head. "I'm not the right person for the job. I'm sure you can find someone with more experience, someone without a past steeped in the Dark Arts." Cole's eyes darkened as he recalled his demonic upbringing and his brief stint as the Source of All Evil.

Dumbledore leaned forward and pressed the tips of his long fingers together.

"There is no one I'd trust to do the job better than you," Dumbledore said simply. He stood up, leaving Cole to ponder his offer.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a certain young wizard to pick up and an old professor to visit." Settling his black traveling cloak on his shoulders, Dumbledore stepped out the door and a faint _crack!_ later, was gone.

* * *

"No, absolutely not!" Paige shouted as she stormed into the kitchen of the Halliwell manor, Leo trailing after her with a bemused expression on his face. 

"I will not! You hear that? Go ahead and tell them that. I refuse to accept this assignment!" She waved a pile of papers in his face. "Do you have any idea the kind of trouble the boy has gotten himself into in the past?"

"Paige, he could be our only chance of defeating the new Source." Leo explained patiently to Paige. "Assigning him a Whitelighter was no light decision, pardon the pun. We didn't even know of his existence until two years ago, all right? Now, given our current situation, the Elders feel that assigning you as his Whitelighter would be our best chance."

Paige dropped the paper's containing her new charge's information onto the table.

"He almost got himself killed when he was a baby, did you know that? He was only one then. One! And I will not even begin to list the number of mishaps and troublesome incidents he's managed to worm his way into in the last fifteen years. On top of all that, They expect me to trudge a mile up to that Hogwarts place every time I need to see him? You can't eve orb in there!"

She slumped dejectedly into a chair.

"But then again, it's not like I have a choice, do I?"

Leo smiled at her and gathered the papers into a folder, and then came and sat beside her.

"Look, he's an orphan. He didn't choose to have any of this dropped on him, Paige, can't you understand that?"

"Of course I won't turn my back on him, Leo. How can I? But it'd be nice if the Elders handed out easier assignments once in a while."

Piper and Phoebe came back into the kitchen, now that the storm has passed. Paige can be a bit difficult sometimes when it comes to a potentially troublesome new charge. The two older sisters took a seat at the table. The atmosphere of the room was heavy and solemn as the weight of the decision they now had to make hung gloomily over them like a thundercloud.

Piper stole a glance at Leo, who nodded.

"With you being Harry's Whitelighter, Leo and I are hoping that you'd be better able to keep an eye on Wyatt and Chris while they're at that school," Piper told Paige.

Phoebe and Paige both stared.

"So you've already decided?" Phoebe asked.

"To send Wy and Chris there?" Leo confirmed this with a nod. "It wasn't an easy choice to make. But with Voldemort as the new Source, Piper and I felt that it was the right thing to do. Whatever information the boys might gather from attending Hogwarts could only aid us in gaining the upper hand against Voldemort and his followers. Besides, the wizarding world is sure to learn of our existence sooner or later, if they haven't already."

Paige sighed. "The world just gets more and more complicated every day."

* * *

A/N: Did you like it? Drop me a review and tell me if I should continue this or not. All reviews, comments, and suggestions are welcomed. Phoebe/Cole fans: more to come later :) 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Sorry for taking so long with this update. I've just been extremely busy. But anyways here it is and hopefully the next chapter would be up faster.

**Chapter 2**

Harry sat dozing by his window, glasses askew on his face as he nodded off against the cold windowpane. His room was a mess. Clothes were strewn about all over the floor, a few books upended here and there, a bottle of ink spilled across his desk. Hedwig's large and now dirty cage sat on top of a pile of recently read newspapers. Harry had puzzled over some of the articles over the past few days, unable to believe what he had been reading. He had every intention, though, of getting a full explanation from Dumbledore tonight. That is, if Dumbledore actually showed up like he'd promised. Harry daren't get his hopes up.

The headline of the topmost article stood out:

**Ministry of Magic Makes Surprising Revelation **

The Ministry's announcement last week stunned the general public.

"It has recently come to our attention," said one Ministry spokesperson, "that the Wizarding community are not the only human magic users in the world."

Supernatural forces are at work here. Certain individuals had been endowed with powers that do not require the use of a wand. They call themselves witches, and are protected by supposedly angelic beings, whitelighters. What implications does this have for the Wizarding community? The Ministry of Magic is hard at work trying to get to the bottom of this, and is currently investigating three sisters rumored to be the most powerful of these magic users. However, it does seem that most of these 'witches' are fighting against the dark forces.

Nonetheless, a word of caution to our readers. There is a powerful evil at work here as well. Among the newly discovered magical population reside beings from a place called the Underworld. These beings include demons and warlocks, born of evil nature. They are suspected of having already been recruited by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named into the rank of Death Eaters. Even worse, if they have crowned He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named as their king, the Source of All Evil, it would bestow upon him unimaginable powers (_ctd. page 2, column 8_)

A shiny purple pamphlet lay beside the untidily stacked newspaper pile:

------ Issued On Behalf Of ------

THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC

Protecting Your Home and Family Against Dark Forces

The Wizarding community is under threat from two sources – an organization calling itself the Death Eaters, and a group of beings only recently discovered to exist – demons and warlocks from the Underworld. Help protect your home and family by observing the following simple security guidelines.

The pamphlet then proceeded to list in detail a number of instructions for increasing safety and also had a large section on demons and inferi.

Harry jerked up suddenly as a street lamp outside suddenly went out. It was followed by a few more until the entire street lay under a heavy cloak of darkness. Harry sent a panicky look around his cluttered room. He hadn't bothered to pack yet because he wasn't sure if Dumbledore was really coming or not. Hastily, he threw some robes and spell books into his trunk even as the doorbell rang downstairs. A grin of mild amusement lit up on his face as Harry remembered that he hadn't told the Dursleys that Dumbledore was coming by…

* * *

Number Twelve, Grimmauld Palace looked as bleak and gloomy as ever under the dim streetlights. The Order of the Phoenix headquarters was in full working order again as soon as Harry had confirmed that he had indeed inherited the mansion from Sirius, and not Bellatrix or some other member of the remaining Black family.

Numbness seeped into Harry as he stepped over the threshold with Hermione and the Weasleys. This was his first time he'd been back since Sirius died. The place didn't seem the same, and there was an empty, even ghostly feel to it. This evening, however, the Black family residence was far from empty. Numerous members of the Order were here tonight to discuss their course of action now that Voldemort was working with demons. Tonight would also be the first time that they would meet members of the other magical communities, the so called 'Charmed Ones.'

From the looks of things, most of the members of the Order were already here. Light streamed from the large meeting room situated off the hallway, and the drone of many voices floated through the door. Harry followed Mr. And Mrs. Weasley into the room with Ron and Hermione not far behind. Conversations paused as several pairs of eyes looked up at the new arrivals. Harry let his own eyes travel over the room, noting many familiar faces.

Moody was in a corner having an animated discussion with fellow auror Kingsley Shacklebolt. Neither of them gave any appearance of having noticed the newcomers, but Moody's piercing blue eye rotated around and fixated upon Harry. Lupin sat at the long table right next to Tonks, who smiled and gave them a cheerful wave. Mundungus Fletcher was snoring lightly on the floor by Harry's feet. Bill and Fleur were already there, having left a bit earlier than they had. Various other members of the Order were also seated around the long table. Snape, Dumbledore and the Charmed witches apparently were the only ones who haven't arrived yet.

Harry's gaze settled on a tall man leaning casually against the wall near the back of the room. He couldn't recall ever having seen him before. A new member of the Order? Their eyes suddenly met. Harry felt a bit uneasy and looked away, but he could feel the man continue to watch him, studying him. Harry thought he sensed something about him, not evil or sinister, exactly, but dark. He shrugged off the feeling and found himself a spot next to Ron and Hermione.

Not long afterwards, Dumbledore stepped lightly into the room. He was followed by three women, the sisters, the famed Charmed Ones. The room immediately fell into a hush as everyone focused their attention on the three powerful witches of the other magical society. No one spoke for quite a while until Dumbledore at last cleared his throat.

"Ah, so shall we begin?" He asked with a smile and his eyes twinkling in his usual good humored way.

It seemed as if all the tension was suddenly released and everyone in the room visibly relaxed. The sisters didn't seem any different from other witches, for all that they were supposed to be the most powerful force of good in the world. Harry listened with rapt attention as Dumbledore made introductions. Paige, the dark–haired one. Phoebe, the middle sister. Piper, commanding and determined looking. Dumbledore's voice drifted around the room, and Harry sat a little uncomfortably as Dumbledore told the sisters a bit about Harry's past. His voice was gentle though.

The tall black haired figure at the back of the room stirred as Dumbledore introduced him. Harry's eyes widened in surprise as he learned that Cole Turner was from the same magical community as the Charmed Ones, and a former demon at that! Yet Dumbledore seemed to trust him. Harry was only half listening though. At the moment, he was more focused on what was transpiring between Phoebe Halliwell and Cole Turner. Even though they were at opposite ends of the room, Harry could feel intensity crackling in the air. So they knew each other.

Phoebe gave a slight jerk as she noticed Cole for the fist time. Her heart jumped into her throat and stayed there, hammering wildly. She let out a soft but audible gasp. He was alive! A flood of emotions rushed over her, one after another; joy, shock, uncertainty, fear. Underneath that turmoil of feelings churning through her, she felt something stir. A forgotten passion she thought she had buried long long ago in the past. Sixteen years, to be exact.

Her legs felt about to give way under her. Phoebe suddenly noticed the presence of her sisters beside her, and she gratefully clung to them for support, although they looked just as shocked as she felt. Sixteen years of believing he was dead, vanquished! And yet here he was, not a hair out of place, looking the same as he did those many years ago. Time seemed to have stood still for Cole. But then again, his demonic heritage did slow his aging.

Cole shifted uncomfortably on his feet as he appraised them coolly. He didn't want to meet Phoebe's eyes, so he made do with a slight nod of greeting and focused his attention back on Dumbledore. For all the calm and unruffled appearance Cole showed on the surface, inside he was an emotional roller coaster. He knew it would come to this sooner or later, but he could never have prepared himself for this eventual reencounter with Phoebe. A quiet frustrated sigh escaped his lips as he tried to steel himself against the barrage of emotions. He would figure this out later, but right now all he wanted to do was get away from here, away from the presence of the three women he knew so well. Cole didn't want to confront them tonight. Doing so would open too many doors to the past, a past he had done his best to forget. Still, he knew he couldn't avoid them forever.

Dumbledore had finished speaking by now, and a lengthy discussion was going on among the members of the Order and the Charmed Ones as to their courses of action now that Voldemort had become the Source. Harry noticed that most people in the room seemed oblivious to the tension between the ex-demon and the middle sister of the  
Charmed Ones, although Moody's blue eye was now shifting back and forth from Cole to Phoebe.

Besides him, Ron elbowed Harry.

"Hey, no Snape. What do you think of that?" Ron whispered.

Harry shrugged, "Probably doesn't mean anything. He's not here, so much the better for us."

"Yeah, but this meeting is important. You'd think he wouldn't miss this," Hermione whispered back. Harry nodded in agreement, but he had no answer.

Conversation in the room has now reached a minimal buzz as members of the Order milled around talking to each other and to the three sisters. Harry watched as Cole stepped over to Dumbledore and had a quiet talk with him. A few minutes later, the tall ex-demon left. For some reason, Cole had seemed particularly eager to get away from the Charmed Ones' presence.

Phoebe saw him leave and was almost about to start after him when she stopped herself, turning instead to speak with the cheerful pink-haired woman who had come up next to her. She'd ponder over this startling new development, namely the fact that Cole was alive, back at the Manor with her sisters later.

Meanwhile, Dumbledore had also made his way up to the cluster of witches and wizards gathered around the Charmed Ones.

"Harry," Dumbledore called, waving a hand at him, "come meet your whitelighter."

'_Whitelighter?'_ Harry thought. Ron and Hermione followed as he walked up to the Headmaster.

Paige was the first to greet them.

"So you're the one we've been hearing so much about, huh?" She asked with a grin. Piper and Phoebe also greeted them friendly.

"Well, I'm your new whitelighter," Paige announced, still smiling at him.

Harry looked to Dumbledore for an explanation. Dumbledore clapped a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Harry, in their world, whitelighters are assigned by certain beings, called the Elders, to innocents. The whitelighters look after their innocents and act as their guardians. The Elders' Council felt that you would be safer and have a better chance of succeeding against Voldemort with a whitelighter. I, too, feel that this would offer you better protection," Dumbledore told him.

Harry felt unsure what to say to this, so he nodded, "Um, ok. Cool, I guess. Nice to meet you," he said to Paige.

"Also, Piper's sons would be attending Hogwarts this year," Dumbledore gestured to the eldest sister. "Wyatt's in your year and Chris is a fourth year. I trust you three would get along well with them."

A little while later, Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys had said their goodbyes and were headed back to the Burrow.

As Harry lay in bed that night, he thought, '_well this has certainly been an interesting evening.'_

Ron's gentle snoring could be heard from the next bed as Harry finally drifted off to sleep.

* * *

A/N: Sorry if it's a bit too Phoebe/Cole centric. I'm a hopeless romantic :) There will be more Wyatt, Chris, and Hogwarts stuff next chapter, I promise. Review, please? 


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter** **3**

"Chris, come on already!" Wyatt called upstairs to his brothers.

"Just a sec!" Chris yelled back.

Wyatt rolled his eyes and leaned against the doorframe to wait. A few minutes later, heavy thumps could be heard on the stairs as Chris lugged his trunk down. Piper and Leo strolled from the kitchen, Leo with one arm around his wife.

"Hey, ready to go?" Leo smiled at his sons.

"Yep," Wyatt confirmed. Chris nodded.

"Ok, then. Paige!" Piper shouted.

A flurry of orbs descended upon the room as Paige orbed in with Phoebe.

"I'm here. You didn't have yell so loud," Paige tried to sound grouchy but didn't quite pull it off.

"All right, we're all here? Let's go then," Leo said and orbed off with Piper. A second later he was followed by Wyatt with Chris and Paige with Phoebe.

The group appeared in a secluded spot behind some stores and walked the last block to King's Cross Station.

"Platform seven…eight…nine," Piper muttered as she walked along. "Well, here's platform nine and there's ten, I don't see a three-quarters anywhere, do you?"

"No, I don't," Leo answered her, a bit perplexed. "Uh, might have missed something when the Elders were giving me the information."

Chris shifted the owl's cage from hand to hand as Wyatt pushed the trolley with their baggage in it.

"I feel really stupid carrying an owl in the middle of London, in broad daylight," Chris mumbled to his brother.

Wyatt just shrugged, "Nothing I can do about it, little bro. Just the sooner we find the train, the better. Hey, look," Wyatt gestured.

A large group of harried looking people had now clustered onto the platform. Most of them had flaming red hair. A look of recognition passed on the face of all three Charmed Ones.

"I think it's the Weasleys and Harry," Paige was already walking toward them. The others followed.

"Look, Arthur, isn't that the Charmed Ones?" Molly said excitedly to her husband and waved at them. "Hello!"

The two groups exchanged friendly greetings. Mr. Weasley pumped Leo's hand enthusiastically as Piper introduced them, "An angel, you say?"

"You're Harry, right? I'm Wyatt and this is my brother Chris." Blue eyes locked onto green eyes as the two Chosen Ones of their respective worlds met for the first time.

"Yeah," Harry responded. "I hear you guys are pretty powerful wizards."

"Well, actually, our definition of witches and wizards are different than yours, but yeah, I guess we're wizards now," Chris answered with an easy smile, "but probably not so up to scratch with wand magic as you guys are."

"Hermione can help you with that," the tall freckled boy indicated. "I'm Ron, by the way,"

"And I'm Ginny," added a red haired girl who could only be Ron's sister.

Hermione, who usually was never at a loss for words, was now the only one who hasn't spoken yet. Harry and Ron both stole her curious glances. For some reason, she seemed rather flustered.

"Oh, you had better get on the train. It leaves in a few minutes," Mrs. Weasley had just noticed the time. She ushered them along the platform and stopped in front of a solid brick arch. "Quickly, through here, then."

Wyatt doubtfully eyed the barrier, "Where, exactly?"

"Ah that's right. This is you first time. Ron, you and Harry had better show them."

They watched in amazement as Harry and Ron headed toward the barrier and just when it seemed like they were about to crash into it, they disappeared, leaving behind no trace.

"All right, you want to go next? Do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous."

Wyatt shot Chris a look and they both jogged toward the barrier, one jiggling an owl cage and the other pushing a trolley.

A blink of an eye later, they emerged on a crowded platform. Seeing the scarlet Hogwarts Express belching steam in front of them, Chris whistled appreciatively.

Not long after, Piper and Leo also emerged, and Paige and Phoebe soon followed.

"It's about to leave. You guys hurry and go find your compartments," Mr. Weasley reminded them.

Piper hugged her sons, her eyes a bit moist, and Leo clapped them on the back, "Have fun, and keep out of trouble, you hear? We'll come and see you when Paige comes to check up on Harry."

Phoebe and Paige were also having trouble letting go of their nephews.

"Aunt Phoebe, you're strangling me," Chris managed to choke out as Phoebe clutched him in a fiercely protective hug.

"Hmm? Oh, right," Phoebe let go, but not before tousling his hair.

They watched the boys get on the train with the others; Wyatt and Chris stuck their heads back outside the window and waved as the train started moving.

Leo put his arm around Piper and pulled her to him, planting a soft kiss on her forehead, "You ok?"

Piper leaned into him and sighed, "Yeah, it's just going to be hard, though, getting used to not having them around the house, for a whole year."

"We can always visit Hogwarts. Paige will go up there every few months to talk to Harry. We can see them then."

They watched as the train became more and more distant, trailing behind long puffs of steam. Phoebe was gazing after it with a forlorn expression on her face. She felt a hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Paige asked.

Phoebe bit her lips, "I don't know. Seeing them getting onto that train, I almost wanted to jump on it myself and go off to Hogwarts. When Dumbledore told us Cole was going to be a teacher there…" She trailed off and shook her head. "It's funny, after all the things he had done to us, I should hate him right now, but I don't." Her eyes searched Paige's.

Paige put her arms around her sister. "Oh, Phoebe."

Phoebe closed her eyes, "This is happening all over again, I can see it. He'll drag me back into a life of evil," she whispered.

Paige sighed. "I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do."

"Thanks, but there really isn't. I'll just have to figure this out for myself."

Leo suddenly looked up and groaned, "Duty calls." He orbed away, leaving Paige to take her sisters home.

* * *

The sky above the Great Hall had turned a cloudy black, with a half moon peeking out behind the storm clouds. Students from all four houses were seated and eagerly awaiting the sorting, anticipating the feast that would follow after. Most of the teachers seated at the staff table looked just as anxious to get to the feast as the students. 

Harry slipped into the Great Hall a little behind the others, having remained behind on the train to spy on Malfoy, but the plan had backfired, leaving him with a bloody nose which Tonks had fixed. As he walked past the staff table, Harry's eyes widened when he saw who was sitting there. Slughorn, he had expected, but Cole Turner, he had not.

"Ron, Hermione, look who's up at that staff table," Harry whispered urgently when he reached them.

"Isn't that Cole? But does that mean he's going to be teaching this year? I thought he used to be evil!" Hermione whispered back.

"I don't know, but Dumbledore wouldn't have trusted him if he still was. I wonder what he's going to teach," Harry wondered.

Ron's face lit up suddenly as if Christmas had come early, "Maybe he'll be taking Snape's place! I'd prefer him, ex-demon or no, to that slimy git any day!"

Hermione just shook her head disapprovingly, "I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you."

The noisy buzz of the Great Hall dwindled as Professor McGonagall led the first years in. Wyatt and Chris trailed a few steps behind them, getting a few whispers here and there - they did look a bit too tall to be first years.

Hermione had sat up straighter and was now paying rapt attention, particularly to the back of the line of first years. The sorting proceeded smoothly. Harry clapped and cheered with the rest of the Gryffindor as new first years came to their ranks.

Professor McGonagall had read the last name on her list, and Wyatt and Chris were now the only ones left standing up there. Dumbledore got to his feet.

"This summer had brought a surprising turn of events. As I'm sure many of you know, the Ministry of Magic discovered another world of magic that coexists with ours, the wizarding community. And just like ours, it also contains good and evil, to put it rather bluntly. Voldemort," here he paused as many students and some teachers flinched at the mention of the name, "and his followers are once again at large has been working with certain demonic beings of this other world. The Ministry believes that he has gathered new powers after being crowned as their 'Source of All Evil.' I cannot emphasize strongly enough how dangerous the present situation is. We must take every precaution to ensure the safety of everyone in this school. I trust you to conduct yourself with the utmost regard for your own and others' safety."

Silence reigned in the Great Hall as the seriousness of Dumbledore's speech sank in.

He continued, "Now, on a more cheerful note, I'm pleased to welcome two transfer students to Hogwarts, Wyatt and Chris Halliwell. They come from Magic School, the primary institute of magic in the aforementioned world. I hope you will all learn from each other, and perhaps we'll all be a step closer to defeating Lord Voldemort."

Necks craned to get a better look at the two brothers from the other magical community.

"And of course, all new students must be sorted," Dumbledore smiled and gestured to the Sorting Hat, "If you will, please."

Chris stepped up first, tensely, not sure what to expect. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on his head, and he waited. After a few seconds of listening to the hat muttering and complaining about having to sort a forth year, he heard it finally shout, "GRIFFINDOR!"

Harry clapped with enthusiasm and cheered. He had expected as much. Many Gryffindor pounded Chris on the back as he walked past them, sliding into a spot Ron had left beside him. The cheering slowly died down, and Wyatt approached the hat. Harry noticed that Hermione's hand was clutching the table tightly, and she leaned forward slightly in her seat. What was up with her today?

The Sorting Hat took quite a while on this one.

Harry's stomach twisted when the surprising verdict at last reached them.

"SLYTHERIN!"

He couldn't believe his ears. Wyatt had seemed genuinely friendly and likeable on the train, not at all the type of person whom he would've expected to be sorted into Slytherin, whereas Malfoy, he'd disliked from the start. But no, his ears weren't deceiving him; the Slytherins were cheering wildly, while the other three tables sat in silence, musing over this unexpected turn of events. Most of them had expected him to be sorted into Gryffindor, like his brother. Even Dumbledore seemed a bit taken aback by Wyatt's sorting.

Wyatt walked past the Gryffindor table on his way to the Slytherin's. His eyes caught Hermione's and he hesitated ever so slightly, but then he shrugged and went on. Harry shook his head in disgust as he watched Malfoy waved Wyatt over to a spot besides him. That was just like Malfoy, already trying to incorporate him into his circle of cronies.

Dumbledore stood again and cleared his throat, "All right then, dig in! It's never been in my habit to hold you up with long speeches."

The golden plates before them filled with steaming piles of food. Harry hardly tasted the food as it went down, still puzzling over the sorting. Hermione also seemed to be in deep thought. Ron, on the other hand, was heartily wolfing down the contents of his plate, a chicken drumstick in each hand.

He looked up, noticing Harry watching him, "What? A guy's got to eat."

Harry laughed half-heartedly and scanned the staff table. He wished Dumbledore would hurry up and finish.

At last the food cleared from the plates and the headmaster stood up for the third time that evening, raising his hands for silence.

"Now that we are all fed and watered, there are still a few things to wrap up here. First, I'm sorry to say, Professor Snape will not be joining us this year as Potions teacher. He is currently working to find out more about Voldemort and the demons and won't be back for a while."

Nobody said anything, but gleeful expressions were mirrored on the face of many students.

"Taking his place will be a former colleague of mine, Professor Slughorn, who will be resuming his old position as Potions master."

Slughorn heaved himself off of his chair and waved jovially to the students, then slumped back down into his seat.

"Our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, meanwhile, comes from the same magical society as the Halliwells. He will bring a broader spectrum of knowledge to the curriculum, helping you learn how to protect yourselves against demons and the likes of them. Professor Turner," Dumbledore extended a hand in Cole's direction.

"You're not serious!" Ron burst out unexpectedly, surprised, not to say the least, that an ex-demon was going to be teaching them Defense Against the Dark Arts. He grinned sheepishly when he looked around and saw that everyone was staring at him.

Cole rose to his feet and raised a hand in greeting. Hermione caught a few whispers coming from some of the girls and groaned inwardly. She hoped this wouldn't be a repeat of the fiasco in their second year. Granted, Cole was good looking enough, as teachers went, and certainly must be more competent than Lockhart had been, but honestly, you'd think that looks were all some girls cared about.

Dumbledore talked about a few more things and then bade the students good night. The Great Hall became noisy again as benches were scraped back and the students headed back to their dormitories. The new school year looked to be promising.

* * *

A/N: I must say I got a kick out of Cole being called 'Professor Turner.' Haha. So review and tell me if you liked the chapter. 


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks to all my reviewers, you guys are great :)

**Chapter 4**

Leo, Piper, Paige and Phoebe all sat around the kitchen table and stared at the envelope and the piece of parchment lying next to it. Chris's letter, by owl express. Piper's brows were furrowed, an uncomprehending expression on her face. Paige and Phoebe's eyes also reflected deep concern. Nobody spoke for a very long time.

Leo finally broke the silence, "It might not mean anything."

Piper turned to him, her face full of worry, and said a bit angrily, "Not mean anything? Our son just got sorted into Slytherin! That House has turned out almost all the dark wizards there ever have been, including the current Source himself! Have you forgotten what Wyatt's future could have been, what it very nearly was?"

Leo placed a hand on Piper's, trying to calm down his agitated wife.

"No, Piper, I haven't forgotten future Chris's sacrifice," His gaze met Piper's, reminding her that he understood full well the implications behind Wyatt's sorting, "But we're not going to help him any by freaking out now. Hon, look at me," Leo spoke soothingly, "Our son will not grow up to be evil, you hear? Not even the Elders would allow that. He is the twice blessed Chosen One, destined to fight for good."

"Destinies can be changed," Piper mumbled miserably.

"Maybe the Sorting Hat picked up on some of Wyatt's other future?" Paige asked after a pause.

Leo nodded slowly, thinking, "That certainly is possible. And if that's the case, we don't have anything to be concerned about. I'll have to look into it further."

Phoebe, too, laid her hand on top of Piper's other one. "It'll be ok, Piper. We all know Wyatt has a bit of a mischievous streak. Besides, not all Slytherins turn out to be evil."

"I hope you're right," Piper finally conceded.

* * *

Harry and Ron lazed around the Gryffindor common room, studying their schedules that listed the courses Professor McGonagall had cleared for them to take on the N.E.W.T. level. Ron wore an ecstatic look on his face. 

"How great can this year get? Not having to put up with Snape at all and these free periods we get…we have one now, and one after break, and another one after lunch…excellent," Ron could hardly contain his enthusiasm.

Harry smiled, also feeling quite pleased. "Better not jinx it, though; we still have no idea what Professor Turner's going to be like."

The entrance of the common room swung open and Katie Bell climbed in. She came over to them. "Harry, well done. I knew you'd get that," she pointed to the Quidditch Captain Badge on Harry's chest. "Be sure to tell me when the trials start," she tossed over her shoulder as she walked away to join her friends.

Harry called after her, "Don't be silly, you don't need to try out. I've watched you play for five years!"

To Ron he said, "Let's get going or we'll be late for Defense Against the Dark Arts."

As they hurried through the corridors, they passed a Gryffindor fourth year coming the other direction.

"Oh hey, Chris," Harry greeted him.

"Hi Harry, Ron," Chris responded.

Harry, more on impulse than anything, suddenly blurted out, "Listen, I'm sure by now you've heard of our sport, quidditch?" He looked to Chris for confirmation. Receiving it, Harry went on, "Great. I'm holding tryouts for the Gryffindor team next week. Why don't you come by and check it out."

"Sure, why not," was Chris's reply to his query.

"All right. I'll see you," Harry said, and they continued on their separate ways.

Ron waited until they were out of earshot before turning on Harry, "Are you crazy? His brother's in Slytherin. Besides which, he's probably never touched a broomstick in his life!"

"Wyatt might be in Slytherin, but Chris is a Gryffindor. And I didn't say he had to try out. Just thought it might cheer him up a little."

Ron let out an exasperated sigh, "Fine, I guess. He _has_ been looking a bit down since the sorting. Reckon he's worried about his brother? I know I would be."

They met up with Hermione outside the classroom and listened patiently to her complaining about the loads of homework she'd already got from her first period Ancient Runes class.

"A fifteen-inch essay, two translations, and I've still got to read all this!" Hermione indicated to the pile of books she had in her arms. Harry secretly thought she looked rather pleased, but didn't tell her so.

They saw a group of Slytherins coming down the corridor, so they went into the classroom. The one downside of this class was that they still had it with the Slytherins, which included Malfoy…and now Wyatt. Harry was still reserving judgment on the older of the two Halliwell brothers.

The first thing Harry noticed when he entered was the change of decorations. Professor Umbridge's reign of terror in the class had constituted of frilly adornments and lacey curtains. Thankfully, all that was gone now and replaced with various daggers and other weaponry displayed on racks. Harry thought that the room looked kind of…cool. There was no other word for it.

Cole was leaning against the front of his desk, a book open in one hand. He looked up as they entered and shut the book, placing it on the desk behind him. Harry managed to catch a glimpse of the title, _Rediscovering Ancient Magic. _Interesting.

He gestured to the rows of desks, "Have a seat."

Most of the students filed timidly past him and found suitable spots. Cole, in his six foot two figure, seemed imposing and, as he was a new teacher, no one knew what to expect. He read down the roll list, his eyes taking careful note of who answered. It was a nice sort of voice, Hermione decided, soft and baritone but commanding at the same time.

"Ok, so that's that." Cole had reached the last name and discarded the list. "As you probably know from the start of the year banquet, I'm Professor Turner. The Headmaster has brought me here to help you establish a link between your world and that of the other magical community, where I was from." He paused briefly.

"What Professor Dumbledore neglected to tell you, however, is that I used to be a half-demon."

Collective gasps and whisperings ran around the room, and several students shot him apprehensive and nervous looks. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were quiet, having already known this. Harry appreciated Cole's open honesty.

Cole held up his hands in mock defense and chuckled, "I can assure you that I have no intention of doing anyone any harm. Nor am I a demon anymore." He caught Malfoy whisper something to Pansy Parkinson, but chose to ignore them.

"You have, I believe, covered a wide range of subjects in Defense Against the Dark Arts, anywhere from boggarts to dementors to werewolves, as well as numerous spells, have you not?" They nodded.

"Well, this year we'll add demons to our studies," a corner of Cole's mouth twitched slightly; the irony of this was not lost on him, "and start practicing the use of nonverbal spells. This class is N.E.W.T. level, so you should all be able to handle that."

Malfoy had obviously decided that Cole was not much of a threat. He continued to whisper what seemed like rude things to his fellow Slytherins and glancing over at Harry, at times mimicking the breaking of a nose. Hermione was glad that Wyatt, who was sitting behind Malfoy's group, at least did not seem particularly interested in Malfoy's antics.

"A demon's attack of choice," Cole went on to explain, "is something called an energy ball." All of a sudden, a bright blue cackling sphere materialized in Cole's hands. "Like so," he flung out his hand the energy ball flew toward Malfoy's group. Malfoy yelped as his desk caught on fire and hurriedly tried to put out the flames with a douse of water from his wand. Cole's arms were crossed and he watched this faintly amused. "Very effective, used in combination with a variety of other weapons and powers."

Hermione fought to keep from laughing as Malfoy sat there and glared at Cole, a corner of his sleeves still smoldering. Her eyes were eventually drawn to the person sitting behind him, Wyatt. She loved the bemused expression he now wore on his face, and the way a lock of hair fell into his eyes. Her breath caught in her throat as Wyatt felt her gaze on him and stared back at her, refusing to look away until she did. Hermione felt her cheeks flush and she turned back to the front, trying to focus on what Cole was saying, something about shimmering. What was wrong with her? Wyatt's a Slytherin!

Ron had noticed Hermione blushing. He leaned over and whispered, pretending to be horrified, "Hermione, don't tell me you've got a thing for Professor Turner. What happened with Lockhart was bad enough. I mean, all those hearts on your schedule?"

Hermione frowned, "Oh shut up, Ron, that's not what this is about." Ron just sniggered.

Cole had been slowly pacing back and forth as he talked. The students sitting in the front row drew back slightly every time he passed them. One Gryffindor girl bravely raised her hand, encouraged by the fact that it was Malfoy who had suffered Cole's wrath.

"Sir, I thought you said you weren't a demon anymore," She questioned, "How come you still have those powers?"

"The powers, I picked up somewhere else," Cole answered her. "It's…ah, a long story." He sighed, "Perhaps some other time. All right, the rest of week we'll be in the Great Hall for lessons. Professor Dumbledore has kindly agreed to temporarily lift some of spells in there so I'll be able to show you what shimmering looks like. Also, we'll talk about using agility as a defense. What they can't hit, they can't hurt. Homework: read up on and review using shield charms, you'll need them for the next lesson. I also want a fifteen-inch essay on demons and the methods of attacks they use by Thursday." He nodded at them, "That will be all."

The students shuffled out the door, talking excitedly in awed voices despite the fact that they all had homework on the first day already.

Ron nudged Harry, "Didn't I tell you how great this year was going to be? That look on Malfoy's face, I almost died laughing. Served him right, I'll say. And Cole! He's amazing! Think he can teach me how to use energy balls?" Ron sounded wistful.

Harry laughed, "I don't think it's something that can be taught. But I agree, that was definitely one of my favorite Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons. Cole seems to dislike Malfoy almost as much as Snape hates me. Point in his favor."

Hermione made a small noise of agreement, not trusting herself to speak just yet.

"Let's see," Ron muttered, consulting his schedule. "Potions next." He looked positively delighted as they headed off toward the direction of the dungeons.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Cool morning dew drops clustered on the grass blades. Harry liked the way the springy ground felt under his feet as he walked onto the quidditch field, his Firebolt clutched in one hand. But if there was one thing that ruined this pleasant morning, it was the large crowd of people who'd turned out to watch the Gryffindor quidditch tryouts. As if he didn't already have enough to worry about, he'd also have to watch out for the spectators from the other Houses who'd no doubt come to scout out his team. This was especially of no comfort to Ron, whose face had turned a queasy color close to that of the grass they walked upon. Harry gave him an encouraging pat on the back and then walked out to confront his first hurdle as Captain.

After weeding out some of the less competent fliers, including a group of girls who seemed to have come for the sole purpose of watching him and giggling, and chasing away a couple of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs who had found their way onto the field, Harry started on the chaser positions. He was just about to take off to observe them from the air when he saw Chris approach.

The fourth year grinned a bit sheepishly, "Sorry, Harry, I meant to come down earlier, but I wasn't sure if…well, do you think you could just let me have a go?"

"Uh, sure," Harry sounded surprised, but he waved Ron over to lend Chris a broom, "Have you flown one of these before?"

"Just once," Chris answered, "I took one of Madam Hooch's flying lessons with the first years."

"All right. Let's join them up there then," Harry said. The others were already in the air awaiting his instructions.

Harry ran them through their paces and watched carefully as they tossed the bright red quaffle back and forth. Chris took to the air as naturally as if he'd been playing quidditch all his life, and he passed and caught the quaffle with unerring accuracy and ease. Harry shook his head in amazement as Chris sped past him. How had he managed to coax such a speed out of Ron's old Cleansweep Seven?

After a while, he'd seen all he needed to see and had the players land.

Harry cleared his throat.

"Good effort everyone," he told them, "Unfortunately, I can only choose three of you to fill the chaser positions, but if you don't make it this time, try again next year. First off, Katie, excellent trial. Welcome back to the team." The seventh year smiled and stepped up next to him.

"Ginny, that was well played. We'd love to have you." He grinned at her, and she smiled back. Most of the other players groaned. While they were happy for Ginny, they all seemed to know what was coming next. Considering what they'd seen at the tryouts today, there was only one person fit to fill that last chaser spot.

"Chris, that was very impressive for your first time at quidditch. Congratulations, you're on the team."

The other players congratulated him as well, albeit a bit grudgingly, before heading off to the stands to watch the rest of the tryouts.

Harry turned to his three teammates, "Great job. I'll see you guys at practice Wednesday evening."

The keeper and beater tryouts went without much incident, except for when Cormus McLaggen suspiciously missed the last one of the five quaffles thrown at him and the shouting match he had provoked Harry into afterwards. Much to Harry's relief and elation, Ron had saved every single one of his goals.

The two of them walked back up to the Gryffindor common rooms. Ron had cheered up soon after he'd secured his keeper position.

"Blimey, Harry, did you see that Halliwell kid?" Ron said to him, "It's like he was born on the broom or something, the way he flies. If you ask me, he could give you a run for your money," he grinned to let Harry know he was joking.

"Yeah, yeah," Harry pretended to be offended, "Really, though, Chris is more than good. He could be the best chaser we've ever had. He did mention to me, though, that he played American football back in his old school. That could explain his passing and catching skills."

"Huh? American football? What's that?" Ron asked.

"It's a muggle sport where…" Harry gave an exasperated sigh, "oh, never mind, it's too complicated to explain." They'd come up to the fat lady's painting, "Come on, we'd better get started on that essay for Professor Turner," Harry remarked as the portrait swung forward to admit them.

* * *

"Good, Smith, excellent shield charm," Cole observed and then continued on his way around the Great Hall. Without warning, he suddenly shimmered and appeared behind a lanky Hufflepuff. Already, a low voltage energy ball was making its way toward the blond-haired boy. The sixth year barely dodged it by diving to one side, and his face was slightly pale and dotted with perspiration as he picked himself off of the floor. Cole nodded his approval.

Several pairs of eyes watched him warily, trying to predict what he would do next. Nervous energy hummed around the Great Hall as everyone waited with tense anticipation. Harry raised his wand arm slightly, feeling a strange sort of excitement running through his body. Today's Defense lesson had made the hair on his neck stand up and adrenaline course through his veins. Cole really knew his stuff, and he was extremely adept at keeping them all on their toes. This lesson was a simulation of an actual demon attack. Cole attacked them with low voltage energy balls and even various hexes, and based their grade on how well and quickly they reacted.

Before Cole could make another move, however, one of the large oak doors to the Great Hall creaked open slowly.

"Excuse me, Professor Turner?" Paige stuck her head in and asked, slightly stressing the word professor, "Could I speak with Harry for a moment, please?"

A flash of annoyance passed across Cole's face. "Go ahead," he told Harry, but there was a slight edge to his voice.

The door swung shut behind Harry, leaving him alone in the hallway with his whitelighter. He wondered just what sort of history had been behind Cole and the Charmed Ones. Every encounter between them seemed laced with conflict.

"So, Harry, how's the new school yeah going?" Paige inquired.

"It's going pretty well, actually," he answered, "At least, better than this time last year."

"Oh no," Paige replied sympathetically, "What happened?"

"Nah, it was nothing. I just had a disagreement with most of my classmates about whether Voldemort was really back or not." Harry was pleased to see that Paige didn't react when he said the name. It was a nice change from everybody always flinching at the mention.

"But you're doing well now in all of your classes, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, except for all the homework," he laughed unenthusiastically. Harry refrained from saying that Defense Against the Dark Arts was his favorite class, seeing as how Paige and Cole weren't exactly on good terms.

"That's great. Well, I just wanted to stop by and say hi. Dumbledore had agreed to show Piper, Phoebe and me around the castle, so we could take a look at the different classes and learn more about your world. I better go find them now. Are you getting along with Wyatt and Chris?"

"I haven't spoken with Wyatt much. He's in Slytherin." Harry was unsure of how Paige would react. Did she already know this? He was relieved when she nodded, deciding to let it slide. "I've seen Chris around a couple times. Oh, and he tried out for the quidditch team. I made him chaser, he's quite good."

"Really? I bet Piper would be delighted," Paige smiled. "I'll see you, Harry," She waved a goodbye and started down the corridor.

Harry managed to slip back into the Great Hall just in time to hear Cole assign their homework. He gathered up his things and left with Ron and Hermione, who questioned him on where he'd disappeared to.

"Wyatt, a word, if you will," said Cole. He beckoned to the Slytherin and waited until the rest of the class had left before speaking. "All right. Now, you want to tell me what's going on?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," answered Wyatt, crossing his arms and stood stiffly, looking around the room with a bored expression on his face.

"Don't give me that. You know full well what I'm talking about. The Halliwell lineage has for centuries produced the most powerful of good witches. Certainly no one would have expected you to place in Slytherin."

Wyatt merely shrugged, "I told you, I don't know." He stared at Cole with something akin to defiance.

Cole sensed some of the boy's hostility towards him. He supposed Piper probably would have informed Wyatt of his and Phoebe's past.

"So, how are the Charmed Ones these days? Still fighting evil?" He asked.

"I don't think it's any of your business," Wyatt said in a belligerent tone. He turned to leave.

Wyatt's flippant attitude made Cole want to smack him. He reached out and clapped a hand on Wyatt's shoulder, spinning him around so they were face to face.

"Listen to me, Wyatt," Cole tried to keep his voice level, "You need to be careful of the path you're headed downwards right now. A life of evil? I don't think that's what you want for yourself. But that's where you're headed if you don't watch out." Wyatt looked away. Cole sighed and released his grip on the boy's shoulder. "I'd hate for Piper and Leo to have to go through with you what Phoebe and I went through."

He stepped back, allowing Wyatt to leave. Cole stared after him with a frown on his face as Wyatt picked up his book bag and headed out the door without another word.

* * *

"Phoebe, come on, sweetie. It's late and we really should be going. If you want to talk to him, go," Piper said to her younger sister.

"I don't think I'm ready," Phoebe slumped down on a bench in the now empty Great Hall, "I can't confront him right now."

Piper put her arms around Phoebe, "It's all right. Give it some time. Let's just go home now and worry about that later." She stood up, pulling Phoebe up with her.

"You ok?" Paige asked, concerned.

"Mm-hmm," mumbled Phoebe unconvincingly.

The three started down the long passageway. Suddenly, Phoebe pulled back and stopped, breathing a bit unevenly. "No, I need to do this tonight," she said quietly, determinedly.

Piper nodded, an understanding look on her face. "We'll be right here if you need us."

"Wait, you are going to let her go by herself?" Paige protested. "What if Cole does something?"

"Paige," Piper poked her and teased, "Aren't you a little too distrusting?" Paige glared at her, and Piper conceded, "Well…you do have a point though."

They both looked at Phoebe, who said, "If Cole hasn't come after us in all these years, I don't think he would hurt us now," She paused, "We need to work some things out, just the two of us."

Paige still looked skeptical. "Be careful," she told her sister, but they let her go.

Phoebe slowed her steps as she neared Cole's classroom. The hallway was dark except for a square of light coming from the doorway that illuminated her path. She let out the breath she had been holding, not knowing whether to be relieved or not that he was still here even though it was late. She stuck her hands into her pockets; they were feeling unusually cold and clammy all of a sudden. Just what was so hard about this?

Cole was sitting at his desk, brows furrowed in concentration as he ploughed through a stack of essays. He had changed out of the long teaching robes he wore during the day –they reminded him too much of the stuffy ceremonial robes he wore as the Source and brought back all sorts of unpleasant memories associated with that time.

Placing the parchment he held in his hand onto the desk, he leaned back in his chair and massaged his temples. It wasn't easy deciphering the untidy scrawls that were characteristic of many of his students' handwritings. In fact, he could feel a headache coming on already.

Cole squinted at the door. Was there someone there? It looked like…no, it couldn't be…she wouldn't come here. He rubbed at his tired eyes. He'd probably been at it too long; even his eyes were playing tricks on him. Then the realization hit him with a sudden jolt and he stood up quickly, wincing as the chair scraped back noisily.

Phoebe halted, unsure. She didn't know how he would react to her presence.

"What are you doing here, Phoebe?" He asked softly. Phoebe was startled to hear his voice so filled with weariness and hurt, and her heart thumped painfully. Had she done that to him? She didn't answer but stepped closer to him, her feet moving as if of their own will. The air felt heavy, almost suffocating. Their eyes met and locked onto each other. To be so close to him after sixteen years of believing he was gone, believing that she had vanquished him!

Cole tentatively raised a hand and when she didn't flinch or try to draw away, let his finger come to rest gently on her face. He lightly traced the contours of her cheekbones, and she felt her skin tingle with tiny electrical sparks where his hand had lingered.

"Cole," Phoebe whispered. He held a finger to her lips and pulled her closer, brushing his lips to hers in a tender kiss, almost as if he were asking for her permission. She responded passionately, giving in to all that she had secretly yearned for in the past few years, and felt his arms tighten around her.

Phoebe closed her eyes and sank into his embrace, treasuring this brief, precious moment that she knew couldn't last. She had to end it now, before it becomes impossible for her to tear herself away. With heavy reluctance she pulled away, placing her hands on his chest to stop him. Cole covered her hands with his, his look questioning.

"No, we can't do this Cole," she spoke quietly, her voice breaking, "I'm so sorry, I never should have come." It nearly killed her to say it. "We can't ever be together. It would never work out for us." She backed away slowly. "I'm sorry, we just aren't meant to be."

He let her hand slide through his, and she walked away quickly. She paused in the doorway and glanced back at him. Cole looked down at the floor, his expression unreadable. Phoebe turned around and fled down the hallway, her eyes threatening to overflow with tears.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Yay new chapter finally! Don't you love me? Hehe. Seriously, though, sorry for taking such an unbelievably long time to write this chapter. I blame it on writer's block and homework, but I know that's no excuse. It'd probably be another month or so before I'll be able to update again, but after that the updates should be coming a lot faster. Thanks for reading and as always don't forget to review!

**Chapter 6**

The Pensieve swirled with the soft flickering glow of memories. Dumbledore pressed the tip of his wand to his temple and withdrew a long silver strand of his memory. With a sigh, he deposited it into the penesive and turned to look at Cole.

"We need that memory from Horace," Dumbledore's voice held a hint of urgency.

"Regarding the horcruxes?" Cole shook his head, "He won't give it up easily."

"He just needs a push in the right direction," Dumbledore mused. His expression was thoughtful, "Harry might be able to retrieve it for us."

"That, he might. But I have something else." Cole pulled out a tightly corked vial from his pocket and handed it to Dumbledore. "I called in a favor from one of my contacts in the Underworld. He led me to this. Apparently, Belthazor's former prowess has not been forgotten," Cole said grimly.

"Ah," Dumbledore examined the contents of the vial, a look of triumph on his face, "The Ministry official's memory?"

Cole nodded, "From when he went to arrest Morfin."

"Good, Dumbledore spoke softly, still peering intently at the pearly liquid in the vial, "we needed this." He straightened up suddenly and shifted his gaze to Cole. "How are things down there?"

"Tense. But it looks like Voldemort's got them all under his control. I was lucky to be able to find that one demon."

"You are sure he won't report your presence back to the Source?"

"I took care of it," was Cole's terse reply.

Dumbledore studied him carefully for a second, and then reached out and placed a hand on Cole's arm.

"Cole, I know how hard it is for you to go down there, with your past and all. I appreciate it, I really do. Your service to the Order is invaluable," Dumbledore told him.

"I do what I can," Cole shrugged nonchalantly.

Dumbledore adjusted the spectacles on his nose, "Did you find out anything else?"

"Yeah…"Cole's voice trailed off as he stared into the Pensieve, transfixed by the picture now forming amidst the mesmerizing swirls, "Remember Riddle's cave? The one he went to with the other kids from the orphanage?"

"How could I forget?" Dumbledore motioned for him to continue.

"There have been rumors, and I think I might have sensed something…" he shook his head, "I'll let you know when I find out more. It's really just more of a feeling than anything else."

Dumbledore nodded gravely, "Very well. And it is getting quite late." He walked Cole to his office door, both of them deep in thought.

Cole bid the Headmaster good night and headed down the circular stairway. The hallway was dark and silent, as it was after hours and all the students were back in their Common Room or in bed. His footsteps echoed through the empty halls. Suddenly he paused, listening intently. Cole hadn't been one of the most powerful demons of the century for nothing, and his innate radar was now on full alert, never mind that he had spent the last twenty years or so trying to get rid of, or at least suppress his demonic side.

Quietly, he moved a little ways down the passageway and stopped at the foot of a staircase, looking up. Was that muffled breathing he heard? Whipping out his wand, Cole whispered, "Lumos."

The light caused by the glow of the wand tip lit up the pale faces of Malfoy and Wyatt, both of whom were looking fairly shocked. Cole paused a moment, registering his own surprise.

"What are you two doing out of bed at this hour?" He growled.

The two boys didn't answer him. Cole could sense that he wasn't about to get anything out of them tonight. He glared at them, not bothering to conceal his anger, "50 points from Slytherin. Your Head of House, Professor Slughorn, would be informed. And let's see…detention Monday night at 7, my office."

Malfoy and Wyatt glowered back at him, their faces livid.

"Get back to your dormitories. Now," he commanded, his voice uncompromising, "and don't let me catch you out after hours again."

Cole followed after their sullen retreating backs, making sure they stepped through the Slytherin common room entrance before returning to the stair landing where he'd found them. Those two were definitely up to something, and he intended to find out exactly what it was. Maybe it was also time to put aside his conflicted feelings with the Charmed Ones and go have a talk with Piper concerning her eldest son.

He started up the stairs. The long winding staircase seemed to continue forever until it finally came to an end in a lengthy, wide corridor. Cole slowly rotated around in spot, swinging his lighted wand in a broad arc to get his bearings. Ah, the seventh floor, it looked like, but there didn't seem to be anything here, no classrooms, nothing. He explored a bit further, finally stopping in front of a large tapestry hung on one wall, and backed away to get a better look at it.

He frowned. A nagging feeling told him that something wasn't quite right here, but he didn't know what it was. Vaguely he recalled when Dumbledore had given him a tour of the castle he had mentioned something about a room in this section of the castle, and something to do with chamber pots…wait, that couldn't possibly be right. Baffled, Cole decided to let it go for now, opting to question the two Slytherins during detention later. He covered a yawn as he proceeded down the stairs. It had been a long day.

* * *

"Be right there!" Phoebe yelled to the inquiry of the chiming doorbell as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, a steaming mug of coffee held in her hands and her robes tightened around her.

Trying not to yawn, she greeted her sister, "Oh hey, Piper. What are you doing here?"

"Phoebe, did you just get up? You're going to be late for work."

Phoebe shook her head, "No, I told the editor I wasn't feeling well and won't be coming in today."

Piper took in the dark circles under her sister's eyes and her haggard appearance, and she immediately asked with concern, "Sweetie, what's wrong? You look like you've been up all night."

"More like a couple nights. I've just had a real hard time trying to get to sleep lately, I don't really know why. I was hoping taking the day off might help if stress is the problem."

Piper sighed inwardly. She half-suspected she knew exactly what was going on with Phoebe. It was partly the reason she had come over this morning.

She laid a copy of the _Bay Mirror_ on the table in front of Phoebe and asked quietly, "Are you sure? Phoebe, I'm your sister. You know you can talk to me about anything."

Looking at Piper warily, Phoebe replied, "I'm not sure what you're implying."

"Of course you do," Piper tapped the newspaper impatiently, "I know I'm not the only one who've noticed the changes in your columns; Paige would have come with me too except she rushed out this morning saying that she had to go to Hogwarts. Something about a sudden epiphany she had during the night concerning Harry. Now, come on, tell me the truth."

Phoebe had a strange look on her face. "Epiphany," she mumbled softly, and all of a sudden a memory surfaced that hit her with a jolt almost as powerful as one of her premonitions. That one night many years ago when he'd given her that excuse for having to leave so abruptly during the evening, and remembering how he'd later made it up to her.

"Phoebe?" Piper shook her shoulder gently, "Your column. Lately it's becoming obsessed with love again, and I know what it takes to set you off on that path."

Phoebe opened her mouth to reply and then closed it again. There was nothing more to say. Piper knew.

Piper accepted this silent confirmation of her speculations. "You're still in love with him, aren't you?" She asked softly, "Even after all this time?"

"I don't think I've ever stopped," Phoebe's reply came in a hoarse whisper as she buried her head in her arms, feeling a trickle of tears starting to escape.

Piper scooted her chair closer and put a comforting arm around her shoulders, hugging her close, "Oh, Phoebe."

"Where did it go so wrong, Piper? Why did it have to end that way?" Phoebe cried, not trying to hold it back anymore.

"Honey, you couldn't have done it any differently. Don't blame yourself," she soothed.

"But it was partially my fault. If only I had more faith in him, in myself," her breath came in heaves, "I've managed to put it away and behind me for all these years, and suddenly he shows up in our lives again. I just don't know where to go from here. Going to see him the other night was a mistake. It opened up old wounds for the both of us. I've only hurt him more, and it didn't solve anything at all."

Piper closed her eyes and rested her head against Phoebe's, "What happened?"

"I…I told him we couldn't ever be together, but now I'm not sure that was the right decision," she pulled back and gazed at Piper helplessly through tear blurred eyes, "He probably wants nothing to do with me anymore."

Piper wasn't sure this was altogether a bad thing, but she patted Phoebe's arm encouragingly, "We'll get through this together. We always have."

* * *

Harry paced back and forth anxiously in front of the Gryffindor common room fire, a letter clasped in his hands behind his back. Ron watched him, starting to feel a bit cross-eyed, "Hey, can you not do that? You're making me dizzy."

"Sorry," Harry stopped. "I really hope nobody else barges in unexpected."

"Not many people have a free period right now, besides us, and even if they did, we wouldn't be doing anything wrong."

"No?" Harry glanced at the letter, "Paige did say it was gonna be a bit out of the norm. I don't want people to get the wrong idea."

"About what? She didn't exactly disclose all the details in that letter," Ron pointed out.

"We'll see."

He'd barely finished speaking when the portrait hole swung open and a brightly cheerful brunette walked into the room.

"Hi Harry, Ron!"

"Hey Paige," they greeted her.

"All right, I know we don't have much time, so let's get right to it," she put a large bag of materials down on the floor and started pulling out a couple candles, "Harry, this might come as a bit of a shock to you," she warned. "In our world, when souls die they either go up to the Elders or to purgatory, hell, if you will. I've been trying to find out what happens to souls in your world, seeing as the Elders haven't known of your existence before recently. It seems like there's a separate division of 'Elders' for your world. I guess that's why we never knew of your world," She paused, knowing that what she was about say would have a huge impact on her young charge.

"My sisters and I have sometimes summoned the souls or ghosts of people dear to us who have been killed. I went to the Elders the other day to see if they could contact these beings in charge of um…your parents' souls," Paige heard Harry's sharp intake of breath as he took in the full meaning of her words.

"You can bring them back?" Harry didn't dare believe her. Besides him, Ron's mouth dropped open and all he could do was stare.

"I can try, but I don't know if it'll work yet," She said, her eyes never leaving Harry's face. He reminded her so much of herself. They both lost their parents when they were very young, and he, too, was destined to fight a great evil. Letting him see and talk to his parents was the least she could do for him.

She finished the preparations and waved Harry over to stand next to the circle of candles,

"Ready?" He nodded, tight lipped.

"Ok, now just concentrate on your parents, and I'll do the rest," she told him. Seeing him nod, Paige chanted,

"_Hear these words, hear my cry,_

_spirits from the other side._

_come to me I summon thee_

_cross now the great divide."_

They waited with bated breaths as golden orbs swirled inside the circle before finally solidifying. Two figures materialized amongst the fading lights.

"Mom? Dad?" Harry asked in a strangled voice. He remembered the last time he'd said the exact same thing in front of the Mirror of Erised. Stepping forward, he reached out a trembling hand toward his parents, only to find it pass right through them.

Lily smiled sadly down at her son, "I'm sorry, Harry."

But he shook his head, "No, it's ok. You're actually here. I can't believe it," he cast a quick glance at Paige, smiling to show his gratitude.

"Harry," his father said quietly, "We've missed so much of your life, but we couldn't be more proud of you."

"And we love you very much, don't ever forget that," His mother added.

"I know. Your love protected me against…" he couldn't go on for the lump that's forming in his throat.

Ron and Paige stepped away to give them some space.

Paige watched them silently for a while, starting to feel a bit misty eyed. It was then that she made a silent resolution that she was going to do everything in her power to help Harry vanquish that Voldemort person no matter what. Voldemort, the Source, Cole. In the end, they were really the same being, weren't they? _No,_ chided a soft voice in her head. _Not Cole, he was good, and deep down you know it. _But that still didn't excuse how much he had hurt Phoebe. Curse that half-demon for ruining her sister's life!

Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft whooshing sound, and she looked upwards, annoyed.

"We have to go now, son," James lingered a ghostly hand on Harry's shoulder.

"No," Harry said, his voice choked with emotion, but his parents were already being surrounded by soft golden lights.

"We'll be watching over you," his mother's voice echoed as they vanished with the orbs of lights.

He stood rooted to the spot, and felt Paige come up behind him to place a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, are you going to be ok?" She asked.

He finally turned around and faced her, "Yeah. I think so. Thank you for giving me the chance to talk to them."

"I'm glad I was able to."

Suddenly, Harry's eyes lit up and he looked at Paige hopefully, "Paige, do you know my godfather, Sirius?"

She didn't answer him immediately, but at last replied with a guarded, "Yes."

"Well, could you call for him, too? Like you did with my parents," his heart started pounding at the possibility of seeing Sirius again. However, Paige's answer wasn't what he'd been expecting.

"I was hoping you weren't going to ask me that," she said with a sigh. "Harry, the thing is, the Elders don't know where his soul is." She didn't know any way to break it to him gently.

"What?" Harry exclaimed. "How could they not?"

"The circumstances of his death were, to say the least, unusual, or that's what they told me."

"Oh," Harry mumbled, his heart sinking.

"What happened?" She asked, concern etched on her face.

Harry didn't look at her as he recounted the events of his godfather's death. "My friends and I were at the Ministry of Magic. We were fighting against Voldemort and his followers, and Sirius had followed us there with some other members of the Order. One of the death eaters hit him with the _Avada Kedavra_ curse and he fell through this black veil thing. I thought I could hear voices coming from it, and there were shadows moving behind it, but he didn't come back out." Harry looked at Paige a bit glassy-eyed, "Do you think his soul's trapped there?"

"I don't know, Harry. But I promise I'll do everything I can to find out what happened so we can fix it, and he can move on."

He nodded gloomily, knowing if anybody could help Sirius, it was his powerful, well-connected whitelighter.

* * *

The two Slytherin six years sat at two desks, their bookbags slumped carelessly on the floor. Cole dropped a large pile of old swords and other weapons in front of them and handed each a rag.

"Start polishing," he told them curtly before striding back to his desk. Picking up his book, he attempted to find where he left off, occasionally watching Malfoy and Wyatt out of the corner of his eye. It wasn't until after Cole realized he'd read the same line five times that he gave up. There was just too much on his mind lately. He supposed it had started when Phoebe came to see him the other night. It had been quite a surprise, discovering that she didn't hate him as much as he thought she did.

But where did that leave them now? He'd been perfectly fine with forgetting what had transpired between them many years ago, just burying and letting go his of past because most of it had been too painful to remember. He regretted some of the choices he'd made that had driven her away from him, and he was deeply remorseful of how much he had hurt her. Yet that night she'd led him to believe there was still a possibility that they might be able to work things out, but then she had again crushed his hopes like she'd done so many times before. It was a painful repeat of their past.

As if that wasn't stressful enough, he also had to take into account another troubling aspect. Wyatt and Malfoy's sudden friendship. He knew that Malfoy's father, Lucius, was a death eater, so he'd been suspicious of him from the start. Wyatt, on the other hand, was the son of a witch and a white lighter. Understandably, with the Halliwell Manor situated right above the site of the Nexus, Wyatt would feel a pull for the dark side, but Cole hadn't expected him to be swayed so easily by evil. Not that he could prove anything yet. Nevertheless, something about the two Slytherins' midnight exploit worried him.

He closed his book and broke the long silence, "All right. Tell me what you two were doing wandering around the castle after hours."

Malfoy looked up from the sword he was bent over, his eyes flashing darkly.

"The sooner you two tell me, the sooner you can get out of here," Cole reminded them.

"We weren't doing anything. Just felt a bit restless and decided to take a walk, that's all," Malfoy said idly, a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Wyatt avoided his stare and continued to work on the rusty piece of weaponry in his hands. Cole sighed and stood, walking to the window overlooking the now dark grounds. His eyes searched the moonless night for answers, "Very well. If that's how you want to play it…" his voice was barely above that of a whisper. Without turning back, he told them to leave.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Just putting in a quick little recap here of everything that's happened so far, since the updates are so long in coming (sorry, sorry). Feel free to skip the next couple of paragraphs.

Voldemort has become the new Source and leader of the Underworld.

The Halliwell sisters, in their early thirties after a botched potion experiment, were happily living their own lives when they found out about the wizarding world.

Wyatt and Chris are sent as transfer students from Magic School to Hogwarts so they could learn things that they might need to know to defeat the Source. Wyatt got sorted into Slytherin, where Malfoy seems to be having a bad influence on him. Chris, meanwhile, finds himself playing chaser on the Gryffindor quidditch team.

Harry was able to talk to his parents with Paige's help; he also found out that Sirius's soul was trapped. Hermione doesn't want to admit to herself that she has a crush on Wyatt.

Sixteen years after surviving Phoebe's final attempt to vanquish him, Cole is now Hogwarts' Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, helping Dumbledore through his former Underworld connections. He retains his Belthazor powers.

Phoebe, as indecisive as ever, wonders if she's made the right decisions regarding Cole. She just ends up causing more heartbreak for them both. Will it ever work out for them?

Now on with the chapter.

**Chapter 7**

Hunched against the icy wind that howled and tore at their clothes, Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way across Hogsmade toward the Three Broomsticks.

"It's the wrong sort of day for this trip," Ron muttered under his breath.

Harry agreed, "Let's just grab a butterbeer and go. There's no use lingering around the village in this weather."

They stopped just outside of the entrance to brush off the dusting of snow that had gathered on them. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry caught the swish of a silver cloak being battered by the wind. He glanced sideways and immediately straightened. Wyatt was leaning against the side wall of the Three Broomsticks, his hands stuck firmly in his pockets and collars turned up against the wind. The Slytherin sixth year stared moodily off into the distance, seeming oblivious to the biting wind that whipped through his hair.

Harry was just about to turn and talk to him when a scream arose on top of the wind from the direction Wyatt had been looking at just a few seconds ago. Harry spun around on his heels and strained his eyes against the cold to see what had caused the sudden outburst. Hermione grabbed his arm.

"Harry, that's…is that Katie?" She asked in an uneasy whisper, her voice tight with apprehension.

Temporarily suppressing his suspicions of Wyatt's involvement, Harry raced toward the Gryffindor chaser and her friend Leanne off in the distance, his stomach knotting with fear and alarm as he saw Katie start to rise higher and higher in the air. Still too far away to help, he waved his arms at Leanne, urging the now nearly hysterical girl to try and do something. They'd barely reached Katie and grabbed her legs when she let out another terrible shriek and fell on top of them, thrashing and screaming.

Harry tore his eyes away from Katie's flailing figure to scan along the side wall of the Three Broomsticks where Wyatt had been earlier. The Halliwell was nowhere to be seen.

"Stay there, I'll go get help!" He shouted to the others over the wind.

He returned a few minutes later with Hagrid, who promptly picked up Katie carried her back to the castle at a run. Hermione by then had managed to calm down Katie's friend enough to coax from her a scattered account of what had transpired. Leanne pointed toward a brown-paper package on the ground.

"It was when that package tore," she sobbed.

"Ron, don't touch it!" Harry shouted. Ron was bent over a pile of greenish glitter, his hand outstretched, but Harry pulled him back.

"We need to tell Dumbledore what happened, and maybe have Professor Turner take a look at that necklace," Harry said grimly, still trying to wrap around his mind the fact that Wyatt might somehow be involved, "and there's also something else I need to tell you guys."

* * *

Harry stepped out onto the quidditch field to the roar of the crowd pounding in his ears. He squinted up into the stands that shimmered in a wave of several predominant colors – red and gold, green and silver. Turning, he swept a glance over his team and decided they looked more than ready to go, even with Demelza Robins, the replacement chaser he'd chosen after Katie Bell's incident. His red-clad team followed him with determined looks on their faces as they faced off against the Slytherins coming toward them from the other side of the field.

"Captains, shake hands," Madam Hooch commanded.

The Slytherin seventh year grasped Harry's hand tightly, offering a show of strength. Harry tried not to wince as he had his hand crushed by the burly Slytherin captain. As he turned to head back to the rest of his team, he noted that Malfoy's usual pale blond head of hair was absent, replaced by a slight Slytherin fifth year named Harper. The Slytherins apparently had also decided to supplement their team with another blond-haired figure, swinging a heavy beater's club back and forth with ease.

Frowning, he walked back to his team and spoke quietly to Chris, "You didn't tell me your brother was on the Slytherin team."

The younger Halliwell shrugged and answered, "He never told me."

Harry considered this. If Chris was any indication to go by, his brother might very well be a good quidditch player. Nevertheless, he felt reasonably confident that his team could handle this new threat. Just then, Madame Hooch's whistle shrilled loudly, so he abandoned his thoughts and pushed off into the air, already intent on finding the snitch and ending the game quickly.

Chris followed the two other Gryffindor chasers into the air on his Nimbus 2000, easily slipping into the preplanned formation they had practiced. Flying felt good; it was something that came naturally to him. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised that Wyatt had made it onto the Slytherin team as a beater. His brother had always been good at baseball, and flying was probably just as effortless for him.

Ginny, quaffle tucked under one arm, shot him a sideway look. Chris nodded and pulled off to the right. They were nearing the goalposts. Ginny lobbed the red quaffle over the head of a Slytherin chaser trying to block her path. Chris urged his broom to put forth a bit more speed, caught the quaffle, and flung it past the goalie's outstretched arms. Turning his broom upwards to avoid crashing into the goals, he glanced down. He grinned triumphantly as the quaffle shot through the hoop, pleased that he'd scored the first points of the game.

Harry gave Chris a thumb up. The fourth year was doing pretty well for a quidditch newbie. Suddenly, a green blur shot past him, nearly knocking him off balance. Harry cursed himself for being so careless and immediately turned his broom around to catch up with the Slytherin seeker. He hoped his momentary lapse of attention wouldn't cost them the snitch and the game. But no, it was all right. That wasn't the Slytherin seeker, just Wyatt. The beater was speeding after a wayward bludger. Harry watched as Wyatt swung his bat powerfully and whacked the bludger toward a Gryffindor chaser.

"Chris, careful!" Harry called a warning.

The younger Halliwell barely dodged in time and felt the bludger skim his hair as it went past. Chris glanced up and saw Wyatt flying away with a backward glance, mouth parted in a slight laugh.

_What the hell is he playing at?_ Chris fumed angrily. _I didn't even have the quaffle! _He shot a furious look at his brother's retreating back_. I'll get him back for that._ A few minutes and several goals later, Chris saw his chance. Wyatt, chasing after another bludger, streaked past the Slytherin seeker, his club poised to strike. Chris raised his arm and made a sweeping motion with his hand. The bludger screeched to a halt in midair and suddenly shot backward, heading straight for Wyatt. Chris grinned to himself. He was _sure_ the bludger wouldn't actually hit his brother, Wyatt's reflexes were too good for that, but it might shake him up a little.

Wyatt's blue eyes widened in surprise as the bludger abruptly reversed the direction it was traveling in. Sure, a bludger's path tended to be erratic, but he had never once seen a bludger do that at any of his practices, and it was traveling much too fast. Too late to get out of the way, he realized with a jolt. As if on impulse, Wyatt's force field flared up around him, deflecting the bludger just in time to stop it from breaking his nose. _Why, that little brother of mine…_

Madam Hooch's piercing whistle sliced through the air, effectively bringing about a halt to the match. The other players scattered as she flew up to Wyatt and Chris, an enraged look on her face.

"You two!" she screamed. Her angry voice cut sharply across the silence hanging over the unusually quiet crowd of spectators seated below in the stands, most of whom were simply too shocked for words. As far as they could tell, Wyatt and Chris hadn't waved their wands or anything, and for them to have used magic, how was that possible?

"You are not permitted to use magic during a match!" Her eyes radiated fury, "Penalty for both teams."

The Gryffindors swooped down around Chris, their eyes questioning.

"How did you do that?" Ron asked curiously.

Harry shook his head, "Never mind that now. Save it for after the match. Ginny, you'd better take that penalty shot, and Chris, don't try that again, all right?"

"Fine," Chris replied sullenly.

He hovered, watching as Ginny easily put away the goal while the Slytherin chaser failed miserably to get the quaffle past Ron, who seemed to be able to do no wrong today. And then, a few minutes later, the match was over. Harry flew toward them, one arm raised in triumph and clutching the tiny gold snitch.

The team alighted upon the grass, still basking in the glow of the match. Chris felt someone thump his back.

"Brilliant play, Chris. Now how did you do that anyway?" Ron asked cheerfully, obviously in high spirits.

"Oh, it's just that Wyatt and I inherited powers from our parents. I guess it's different here, huh?"

"Yeah, we can cast spells from our wands and that's it. Hey, so are your powers the same sort of thing Professor Turner uses?"

"More or less," he allowed.

"Well, that's cool, I guess," Ron grinned. By then, Harry had joined them. He nodded in understanding at Chris's explanation.

"Great match you two. For your first quidditch match, Chris, you couldn't have played better. Just, next time, try not to lose your cool on the playing field. I know Wyatt's bludger was uncalled for, but we don't want to give the Slytherins any more penalty shots than we have to, so be careful."

"Will do," Chris replied.

"All right, then, I'll see you back in the common room for the party later." Harry and Ron left, elbowing their way through the large crowd of cheering Gryffindors to meet up with Hermione a little ways off. To say she looked a little distraught would be a bit of an understatement.

"Harry, I can't believe you would actually pull something like that!" Hermione's voice was tinted with disapproval.

"What are you talking about?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about! You spiked Ron's juice with lucky potion at breakfast! Felix Felicis!" Hermione said shrilly.

Harry merely grinned and shook his head, pulling the still tightly corked bottle of potion out of his robes. Ron breathed a sigh of relief. He'd hate to think that every save he'd made today had been out of pure luck and not because of his skills. Rage started to boil up in him as he turned on Hermione. How could she not think he was good enough, and then accuse him of having overdosed on luck?

He glared at her, imitating her voice, "_You added Felix Felicis to Ron's juice this morning, that's why he saved everything!_ See! I can save goals without help, Hermione!"

"I never said you couldn't – Ron, you thought you'd been given it too!"

"You know what? Just forget it," he shouted, turning an angry red that matched his hair in temperament. Brushing past a surprised Cole who had come down to congratulate them, he stomped off.

* * *

Hermione hurried down the hallway, listening to her footsteps echoing through the empty corridors and her heart's faster than usual rhythm. Everyone was back in the common room celebrating Gryffindor's first quidditch win of the year. _Well, almost everybody_, she thought as she brushed away frustrated tears, her mind replaying the scene she had just left. The awkward silence that hung in the air in the deserted classroom where she'd walked in on Ron and Lavender. The ugly argument between them that had escalated into a shouting match. Harry's unsuccessful attempts to intervene. Her firing off a hex at Ron before running off in tears.

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she failed to watch where she was going as she rounded the next corner. The resulting crash jarred her out of her recollections and knocked her books to the floor. Muttering a hurried sorry to whomever she'd bumped into, she quickly bent down to retrieve her books, not wanting the other person to see her tear-streaked face.

Hermione felt a gentle touch on her shoulder. "Hey, are you all right?" he asked softly.

The voice made her jerk and look up without meaning to. "Oh, hi Wyatt," she managed to get out, but her heart seemed to have jumped into her throat and she couldn't continue. She was aware of her cheeks starting to feel quite warm. What must he think, seeing her in this state?

His concerned eyes never leaving her face, he bent down to pick up the remaining books and handed them to her before straightening, extending a hand to help her up as well. Hermione nodded her thanks, but she couldn't understand why he was being so nice to her. He was a Slytherin, after all.

"Is something wrong?" Wyatt asked again. He didn't want to push, but he could see she was troubled by something.

"No, it's nothing, I just, had a rather nasty fight with my friend is all," Hermione looked away.

"I see." He walked with her for awhile, neither of them saying anything.

"There you are, Hermione." They both turned at the sound. Harry caught up with them.

"I'm sorry about what happened," said Harry to Hermione as he drew level with them, but his gaze turned cold when he faced the Slytherin, "What are you doing here, Wyatt?"

Wyatt returned an equally cool look, "Nothing, just minding my own business. See you around, Harry." He left without waiting for a reply.

Harry took in Hermione's unhappy appearance, not quite sure who to blame, Ron or Wyatt.

He cleared his throat, "We should probably be getting back."

"Yeah."

* * *

A/N: Hmm that was a rather Wyatt-oriented chapter, wasn't it? Which means I've got to do a Chris chapter soon… 


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: New chapter just in time for the book 7 release! XD

**Chapter 8**

"Harry!" A breathless voice called. Harry turned around to see Demelza Robins running up to him. She stopped in front of him to catch her breath and wordlessly handed him a note, saying, "Professor Dumbledore asked me to give you this."

"Thanks, Demelza," He replied. Dumbledore's elegant handwriting met his eyes as he unfolded the parchment.

_Dear Harry, _

_I regret to inform you that I will not be available for our lesson this Monday. I have, however, arranged for Professor Turner to temporarily stand in for my stead. Kindly go to his office Monday at our usual time. _

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore _

"Oh, and Harry?" He stopped reading to glance up at Demelza.

"Don't forget, Professor Slughorn's party is tonight," She reminded him with a touch of sympathy, for although she herself had never attended one of Slughorn's little gatherings, she'd heard from some of the Gryffindors how these meetings usually went.

Harry winced, letting his distaste show on his face, "Right."

* * *

The Christmas party was in full swing as Harry and Luna stepped into Slughorn's brightly cheerful office, now made considerably roomier with a spell. Scanning the crowd for Hermione, he and Luna pushed their way through the mass of people to emerge somewhere near the punch bowl. Hermione found them a few minutes later.

"Quick, hide me," she whispered and ducked behind them, just as a tall, haughty Gryffindor seventh year stalked past. "Ugh, I've had the worst time of it trying to avoid him this evening," said Hermione, brushing away a few stray strands of hair from her frustrated face.

"Him?" Harry questioned, an incredulous expression on his face, "You came with Cormac?"

"Well I was debating between him and Zacharias Smith, but I thought he would annoy Ron the most."

"Smith? You considered Smith?" He shook is head in disbelief.

"So," Hermione quickly interjected, wanting to get off the subject, "who else is here?"

"I see Wyatt and some Slytherins over there," Harry nodded in their direction, "and a few minutes ago Filch dragged in Malfoy, who apparently didn't have an invitation. Too bad Slughorn offered to let him stay. I wonder what he was up to. Oh, and there's Chris." Harry wasn't at all surprised that Slughorn had expanded his select group to include the Halliwell brothers. The Potions master never passed up a chance to extend his influence and ever-growing web of connections.

Chris was striding purposefully toward the group of Slytherins. He slowed down as he neared them and finally stopped in front of Wyatt.

"We need to talk, Wy," Chris's tone was serious, his gaze earnest as he faced his brother.

Wyatt frowned, "Right now?"

"Hey, Gryffindor, go away. We don't want you here," one the Slytherins said menacingly and stepped up to give Chris a shove.

The others laughed, and one of them followed up, "Yeah, Halliwell, bugger off."

Chris scowled angrily at them, one hand clenched in a fist at his side, the other inching up for his wand.

Wyatt held up an arm to stop the advancing Slytherins, shooting Chris a warning glance as he did so, "Guys, I'll handle this, all right?"

Motioning for Chris to follow him, he maneuvered his way through the room until they stood in the deserted hallway outside Slughorn's office. He immediately turned around and glared at Chris, "Now what's so important that you had to confront me right then and there?"

His little brother shook his head and smiled ruefully, "Sorry, man, I know my timing was lousy, but Mom sent a letter this morning and I figured I shouldn't put it off any longer. She's making me feel guilty enough for not talking to you sooner."

"What about?" Wyatt's demeanor suddenly became cold.

"Come on, Wy, don't be like that. What happened to you?"

"Nothing, Chris, ok? Now stop bothering me," Wyatt turned to head back inside, only to find Chris blocking his way.

"Mom's worried about you. We all are. And it's not just because you're in Slytherin, Wyatt. You _know_ the Nexus has an influence on you. And other future they've told us about. Do you really want to risk that?"

Wyatt let out a frustrated sigh and put a hand on his brother's shoulder, "Listen to me, Chris, I know what I'm doing. You guys just all need to stop getting worked up over the little things. And believe me when I say that I'm not going to turn."

Chris pondered this in silence for a few minutes, before finally asking, "What about Malfoy? Have you found out anything from him about Voldemort or the death eaters?

"No," Wyatt replied shortly, meeting Chris's steady, challenging gaze with his own. The younger Halliwell searched his face for truth, but at last, Chris broke eye contact and looked to the floor.

"Right," Chris mumbled, letting just a tinge of bitterness seep through his voice. Shrugging off Wyatt's hand on his shoulder, he made his way back to Slughorn's office.

His expression as unreadable as ever, Wyatt stared impassively after his brother as his own shadow transfixed itself to the walls of the desolate passageway.

* * *

_Tap. Tap._

Phoebe glanced up over her coffee mug and out through the window looking for the source of annoyance. When she suddenly caught sight of the handsome barn owl rapping its beak against her windowpane, she almost poured her cup of steaming beverage right into her lap. _Owls_. Despite the fact that Wyatt and Chris's bird occasionally dropped off letters at the Halliwell Manor, Phoebe had never gotten used to the sight of them swooping in unannounced and certainly hadn't expected her own apartment to be visited by one of these nocturnal creatures, in broad daylight, no less.

She crossed the room in a few quick strides and cautiously lifted the window to let the letter bearer in. The tawny owl flew past her with a blast of cold wind and made a beeline for her kitchen table, scattering newspapers onto the floor as it skid to a stop on the smooth surface. Warily, she circled closer to the owl as it stared at her, one leg patiently lifted and waiting for her to remove the scroll of parchment attached to it.

As she got closer to it, Phoebe took in the creamy whiteness of its heart-shaped face and smiled. She gingerly reached out a hand, wanting to caress those beautiful soft feathers, but a glance at its sharp beak and talons changed her mind. Instead, she let her gaze slide down to the sheet of parchment rolled up and tied to the owl's leg with a red ribbon. What she saw made her gasp.

With unsteady hands she undid the ribbon and shakily sank into her chair. She stared down at her name beautifully inked across the back side, not even looking up as the barn owl took off through the open window. Turning the page over, Phoebe had to close her eyes to compose herself against the barrage of familiar handwriting that met her sight. She didn't need examine the signature scrawled at the bottom to know who it was from; she had known it the moment she saw the way her name was written.

Her mind drifted back in time, and memories came rushing back in a crushing torrent. She remembered them as clear as if they'd happened yesterday.

_Phoebe._ She could almost hear his voice.

_I was dead before I met you, I was born the day you loved me…_ That night at the Penthouse. His vanquish.

_My love for you would keep me alive, forever…_ Finding him in the wasteland.

_I'm not giving up, I'm not going away… _He'd kept his word, hadn't he?

Phoebe remembered that last letter he had written her. She hadn't even bothered to read it, refused to give him another chance. She recalled his quiet desperation then, the way his eyes had silently pleaded with her, trying to convince her he wasn't evil, but she just wouldn't listen.

_Phoebe, the safest place I know…is with you. _She'd proved him wrong.

Now she looked at the letter she held in hand, her eyes threatening to fill with tears once more. She hardly dared to read it. Not after the way she had betrayed his trust. After her visit to Hogwarts. How could she have been so cruel to give him false hope and put him through all that again?

She bit back a sob and focused on the blurred writing.

_Phoebe_, he started it the same way he always did.

_You've done it again. I didn't think it would be possible, but with you, I can't rule anything out, can I?_

_I thought I was long past the point where a few words or a small action on your part could stir up such a storm in my heart. But why would this time be any different?_

_The last sixteen years. Have you thought about me at all? It seemed like you've moved on with your life without skipping a beat. Everything we've shared, you've just let it go by like a passing breeze. _

_I nearly lost my soul for you, Phoebe. No, I would've given it up without a fight if it meant that you'd find be able to find happiness, and stay safe and well._

_It hurts though. It pains me that you wouldn't do the same for me._

_Even so. Even so, I would've stopped by sometimes, came to see you, perhaps let you know I was alive, but I figured you were happier off believing I was dead. After all, that was what you wanted. Remember what you said? That not only you wanted me dead, but that it had to be on your terms. _

_And then you suddenly drop back into my life without warning. Again, I find my soul being torn, my very existence thrown into chaos. Why? Why do you keep putting me through all this? _

_There are more than just a few memories I wish I could lock away forever, but try as I may, I can't seem to let go of the past. Our past. Because doing so would mean forgetting the good parts as well as the unpleasant ones, and despite the pain they bring, I guess I'm just too damned stubborn to simply disregard some of the few best moments of my life _

_Phoebe, how is it that, after sixteen years and 5,000 miles apart, you still hold the key to my heart?_

She let the letter fall from her hand. For a while, she just sat there in silence, not bothering to wipe away the hot tears that had started to trickle down her face.

Her gaze suddenly darted to the kitchen drawer. Phoebe stood up, pushing her chair back, and abruptly walked over to it. Pulling it open, she frantically rummaged inside for the stenciled notepad she kept there, not caring about the mess she was scattering everywhere.

Phoebe hurried back to the kitchen table. Her hand shook slightly as she poised the pen above the blank piece of paper, but she bit her lips and proceeded to write.

* * *

The clock in the Great Hall struck seven. Cole tore his gaze away from the letter in his hand to glance at the wall clock hanging in his office, but he wasn't really seeing the time. Not really.

Over and over, one line of the letter kept running through his mind, _"I never stopped loving you, Cole, surely you must know that…"_

He ground his teeth in frustration and slammed a fist down on his desk so hard the pens rattled in their holders. _How was he supposed to know that! All evidence certainly pointed to the contrary._

His face softened, however, when he looked at the letter again. Smoothing out the crumpled paper where he had clenched it, Cole noted several blotchy spots where the ink had run. She had been crying when she wrote this, he realized, letting a soft sigh escape his lips. _Oh Phoebe…_

A quiet knock at the door interrupted his thoughts and he looked up again, his eyes glistening slightly with unshed tears.

"Professor?" The knock came a second time, finally prompting him into action. Cole strode to the door and swung it open.

"Harry," he greeted, one eyebrow raised in surprise. "That's right, it's Monday, isn't it?" Cole stepped back to let the young wizard in.

"Er, is something wrong?" Harry inquired. Cole seemed to be staring off into space, lost in thought about something.

"What? Oh. No, I just…"Cole mumbled distractedly. He caught Harry's eyes and sighed apologetically, "Ah… look Harry, I'm sorry, but tonight's just not a good time for me. Do you think you can possibly come back tomorrow evening? "

Harry looked puzzled, "Sure, I guess."

Cole nodded, and walked him to the door, "Thanks, Harry, I appreciate it."

After shutting the door, Cole closed his eyes and leaned against the wall. _How does it all come down to this again?_


	9. Chapter 9

AN: New chappie for you guys finally! For those of you who've decided to stick around for so long until I've written this one, well, you guys are the best! Thanks for putting up with me writing slower than a snail's pace.

Happy Holidays!

**Chapter 9**

Sensing movement behind him, Cole easily sidestepped the silvery boar as it lumbered clumsily past him.

"Sorry, Professor," a student grinned apologetically before chasing after his wayward patronus.

Cole shook his head in amusement and surveyed the rest of the class with an appraising glance. They had spent the lesson reviewing patronuses and learning how to convey messages through them.

"That's it for today, you can go," Cole raised his voice to be heard over the clamor of chattering students, "But don't forget, essays are due on Friday." The students filed past him out into the hallways, some of them still trailed by the last lingering traces of their fading patronuses.

"Harry," Cole stopped him on the way out, "Bring that cloak of yours tonight, will you? I want to take you somewhere after our lesson. There's something I think you should see."

"Uh, yeah, ok," said Harry, his curiosity aroused.

"All right, then. See you later."

* * *

The pensieve sitting on the corner of Cole's desk pulsated suddenly, flooding the empty office with a brilliant glow as two figures emerged from the light and solidified to reveal Harry and Cole. Unexpectedly, Harry chuckled and said, "Professor Dumbledore's choice of muggle clothing was certainly…interesting."

Cole recalled the headmaster's bright plum-colored suit and grinned, "Yes, his taste in muggle clothing had always been rather eccentric, but that doesn't make him any less brilliant. Anyways, Harry, what can you tell me about the significance of the last two memories?"

Picturing the orphanage he'd seen in Dumbledore's memories, Harry answered, "Riddle…he believed it much quicker than I did – I mean, when Professor Dumbledore told him he was a wizard."

Cole nodded, "Riddle was perfectly ready to believe that he was 'special.' His powers were surprisingly well-developed for such a young wizard - he had already discovered he had some measure of control over them, and begun to use them consciously, against other people. And did you notice something else? How he liked to collect trophies?"

"The box of stolen articles he kept in his room, right? Is that important?"

"Very. Keep that in mind, Riddle's tendency to retain these artifacts stolen from the victims of his bullying behavior, the souvenirs of some very unpleasant bits of magic. This will factor in of key importance later."

Harry thought back to the other memory they'd visited, this one of Professor Slughorn talking to a group of boys in his office.

"And the second memory, Professor," Harry inquired. "Why did it suddenly go cloudy at the end, after Riddle inquired about the Horucrux?"

"That was from Professor Slughorn's own personal recollections, but the memory has been tampered with, before he reluctantly passed it along to Professor Dumbledore."

"But why-?

"Professor Slughorn didn't like what he remembered, and he has tried to reconstruct it to show himself in a better light. However, it's obvious that it was very crudely done. His true memory is still there with him." Cole turned and walked a few paces to his desk, where he picked up an empty vial and held it out for Harry to take.

"Professor Dumbledore has requested that you retrieve that real memory from Professor Slughorn. The Headmaster does not want to try and wrest in from Professor Slughorn by force, and he believes that you will do a much better job at persuading him to part with the memory."

"Er, I'm not sure about that."

Cole smiled, "Don't worry, you'll do fine. But I must stress the importance of getting ahold of the memory as soon as possible. You won't be able to continue the lessons with Professor Dumbledore until you have it. The memory is key."

Harry looked confused, but he nodded, "Do you know where Professor Dumbledore is right now?"

"Ah, Harry," Cole sighed, "Professor Dumbledore would rather I…not tell you that for the time being. He said he will let you know himself when the time is right."

"Of course," Harry mumbled, a bit resentfully.

"I'm sorry, but he seems to think it's for the best. Now, do you have you invisibility cloak?"

"Yeah, right here," A note of excitement crept into Harry's voice as he suddenly remembered why he had brought it. He unfolded the shimmery cloak and shook it out, letting the silvery material cascade down.

"Impressive." Cole admired it for a second, "Okay, Harry, I take it you haven't encountered any demons yet, have you? Besides me, that is."

"Not that I know of," replied Harry hesitantly; he wasn't sure what Cole was getting at.

"So what do you say tonight we go and do some field reconnaissance?"

Harry's eyes widened in surprise, and he blurted out, "Seriously?"

"I don't see why not. You'll be safe enough, under that cloak. Sooner or later you're bound to run into some demons, so best to get some experience, or at least get a look at them first. Professor Dumbledore has also expressed the wish that you get some practical training in fighting demons, although he doesn't know about this trip tonight and I'm not altogether sure he'd have approved of the location I'm taking you to."

"Oh," Harry looked slightly disappointed.

The former demon picked up on Harry's tone and chuckled, "Hey, I didn't say we wouldn't go. And like I said, there's something I wanted to show you. Come on, let's go down to the Forbidden Forest – I can't shimmer us from the castle."

"Er, Professor, where exactly are we going?"

"You'll see," was Cole's cryptic reply.

They quickly made their way through the castle and out onto the grounds. Not even Peeves had dared to bother them after Cole shot the poltergeist a death glare.

The frost-bitten grass outside the castle crunched underneath their steps. Cole slowed his pace, turning slightly to glance thoughtfully at the young wizard beside him.'

"It must have been hard for you, Harry, growing up without your parents."

"Yeah…" Harry felt a lump start to rise in his throat, as was always the case whenever he thought of his parents.

"I can relate, you know," Cole's voice was quiet, his gaze off to the distance, "I lost my father to evil a long time ago. You had it harder than most, though." He looked back down at Harry. "I, uh, don't mean to reopen past wounds, but I heard about what happened at the Department of Mysteries last year-" He was stopped by a sharp intake of breath from Harry. Cole took in the look of pain reflected in Harry's eyes and the way he suddenly tensed; he sent the boy a silent apology for having to be so blunt. "I also know what Paige has told you about Sirius."

Harry looked down, "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Just hear me out, okay?"

Cole took his silence as a reluctant agreement, and stated calmly, "I know what happened to your godfather's soul and where it is now."

"You do?" Harry, stopping abruptly in his tracks, shot a stunned look at Cole.

"I followed up on this hunch I had," Cole said by way of explanation. "I'll show you tonight," Harry started to say something but Cole cut him off, "We can't retrieve it, Harry, not yet. It's too dangerous."

"Can't we just-"

"No." Cole said firmly, "It's in the Underworld, and with just the two of us, we can't risk getting caught."

"The Underworld?" Harry asked, "But that's where…" he suddenly paled.

"I see you've been paying attention in my class after all," Cole's eyes shone with mirth, but his voice was serious, "Not tonight. But soon, ok?

They'd reached the dark, mist-enveloped atmosphere that marked the edge of the Forbidden Forest. "Put on your cloak, and then grab a hold of my arm. I'll shimmer us down there." When Harry hesitated, Cole looked over at him. "You still up for this?" He asked.

"Yeah," Harry said shakily. "Yeah, I am."

Tbc…

* * *

AN: I've got part of the next chapter written, so look for it within the next week or so:-) 


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: I made a slight change for this chapter. I originally intended for Chris to be a fourth year, but I've changed it so now that he's a fifth year instead. It just works out better that way. This one's kinda a long chapter, so enjoy!

**Chapter 10**

Cole disappeared and reappeared with Harry in the dim caverns of the Underworld.

Blinking in surprise at the sudden shift of scenery, Harry commented, "Wow, I didn't even feel that. This is so much better than apparating," His voice rang out unnaturally loud, echoing through the passageways.

Cole put a finger to his lips to signal for silence, but he smiled at Harry's remark. Motioning for the boy to follow him, he led them into the maze of caverns. With Harry being well-concealed under his cloak, to all appearances he was just a lone demon making his way thorough the Underworld, and as long as they didn't look too closely, they wouldn't recognize that the demon was actually the traitor Belthazor, and the extra set of dusty footprints trailing after him belonged to the Potter boy.

Keeping mostly to the shadows even though there was scant chance they'd be found out, they maneuvered through passageways that Cole seemed to have no trouble distinguishing but to Harry looked all the same.

They came upon a large cluster of stalagmites that blocked their view of the large cavern beyond. Cole stopped there, making sure that they were well concealed behind the obstacle.

"It's…the veil. The one from the Department of Mysteries," Harry's shocked whisper reached his ears, "Why is that here? And there's all those white, glowing orbs. What are they?"

Cole's heart gave a painful squeeze. "They're souls, Harry. The Source traps souls in the orbs for his own sadistic purposes." He thought of his own father's soul, ransomed by the Source in exchange for Belthazor's loyalty and service. He had finally been able to free his father during the time he was possessed by the Source, when Cole had regained control of his own body for a short amount of time.

"And the veil?" Harry asked fearfully, afraid of the answer.

Cole looked away from Harry, fixating his gaze on the sharp spikes of stalagmites jutting up from the ground, "He…extracts the souls from it, imprisons them in the orbs."

There was a rustling sound. Harry, his thoughts racing, was already moving toward the racks that held the pulsating orbs. _Souls! What if Sirius is trapped in one of those? He could be here – I have to find him!_

"Harry?" Cole heard the movement and made a grab for Harry's cloak. "No, Harry, don't go any closer. There are sensors!" He cursed under his breath for not having told him earlier. He didn't think the boy would act so impulsively.

Harry heard his warning and hesitated for a fraction, but it was already too late. A shock wave radiated outwards from the center of the cavern and slammed into them both. The force of the blast swept them off their feet, sending them flying backwards. Recovering first, Cole hauled himself up using one of the stalagmites and scanned around for Harry. He breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted him getting up to his feet a little ways off; the invisibility cloak had fallen off during the blast.

The air around them suddenly blurred with shimmers as demons started converging on the cavern. A couple of them blocked his view of Harry. Throwing a punch in the stomach of a demon coming up behind him, Cole fought his way through the horde, making his way toward where he'd seen Harry last. With energy balls whizzing past his head he finally emerged into a temporarily cleared space just in time to see an ugly, horned demon shooting a blast of energy at the young wizard standing bewildered a few feet away.

Without thinking, Cole shimmered to right in front of Harry, taking the hit. He gritted his teeth to fight off the wave of blackness that tried to overwhelm him as the electric wave blasted him.

"Expelliarmus!" Cole heard someone yell through a haze of dizziness. A blinding flash of light exploded past him and the pain was suddenly gone. Harry had his wand arm stretched out in front of him. Cole glanced behind them, seeing the demon that had fired the blast thrown off his feet against the cave wall and falling to the ground where he lay, unmoving.

"Nice one, thanks," Cole said in a strangled voice before he grabbed Harry by his robe and shimmered them both out of the Underworld.

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"I guess we won't be doing _that_ again anytime soon," Cole shook his head, "Sorry, Harry, I shouldn't have put you in danger like that."

"No, it's ok," Harry answered quickly. That was the truth; he was tired of everyone always treating him like he was fragile and could break any second. They either hovered about him protectively or didn't think he needed to be told everything. Sometimes he just wanted to get away from it all for a while. And ever since Sirius…Harry suddenly felt his chest tighten with pain and he couldn't finish the thought.

Cole glanced at him and, almost as if reading his mind, reached out a hand to put it reassuringly on Harry's shoulder. "We'll get his soul back. I promise you that."

The ache in his chest eased up just a little, and Harry nodded.

They started back up the path that led to the castle, an easy silence falling between them as they walked. After having gone hardly more than a few paces though, Cole paused, holding up a hand for Harry to stop. An ominous blue glow behind them lit up the dark path and caused them both to turn around in alarm, only to propel them head on into the wrath of –

"Cole Turner! I swear I'm going to vanquish you for good this time!" Paige's voice cut sharply through the still night air as she stormed out from between the two trees where she had orbed in, clutching an assortment of potion bottles.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Cole ignored her, instead beckoning to Harry to follow him back to the castle. He turned around only to find his way blocked by an extremely angry whitelighter.

Paige jabbed a finger at Cole's chest, hard enough to hurt. "What the hell were you thinking?" she demanded. "Taking Harry to the Underworld! Are you trying to get my charge killed?"

"No, Paige, I-" But she wouldn't let him get a word in.

"Harry! Listen, next time you're in trouble, just call my name and I'll come. That's what whitelighters are for. The connection in the Underworld is weak, and you didn't call for me, that's why I didn't sense you were in danger until it was too late," she glared at Cole before she looked back at Harry, "Just remember, next time, ok?"

"Look, Paige," Cole said in an irritated tone, "Harry can take care of himself. He doesn't need whitelighters and their overwhelming sense of goodness hanging around him all the time."

Paige was about to reply heatedly when the air behind them once again distorted, this time with the blur of shimmers. Two demons appeared, having tracked Cole's shimmer from the Underworld. "Belthazor," one of them growled menacingly, "So you're alive after all."

Before any of them could reply, the demons attacked. Cole deflected an energy ball with one of his own while Paige threw the whole mass of vanquishing potions at the two demons. They writhed in pain as the licking flames consumed their bodies.

As the last lingering echoes of the demons' screams died away, Paige looked smugly over at Cole. "You were saying?"

Cole cleared his throat, "Uh, nothing."

Paige merely smirked and put an arm around Harry's shoulders, leading him out of the Forbidden Forest. Cole rolled his eyes but followed them up to the castle.

"Well, Harry," Paige said as when they came up to heavy front doors of Hogwarts, "I have to go, and you should probably be getting to bed."

"Yeah."

"Hey," She reached out to touch his arm as he turned to go, "Call for me, anytime, and I'll be there."

"I know," Harry gave her a smile, "Thanks, Paige."

By this time Cole had reached them. "Harry?"

"Professor Slughorn's memory, right? I didn't forget."

"You got it," Cole nodded at him. "Goodnight, Harry"

"Goodnight, Professor. Paige." Harry left, and it was just the two of them. Cole resigned himself to a fresh onslaught of Paige's fury, and he wasn't disappointed.

"Well? What have you got to say for yourself?" asked Paige.

Sighing, Cole replied, "I just took him down there to show him where they're keeping his godfather's soul.

"Wait, Sirius's soul? How did you know about that?" Cole raised an eyebrow at her and she shook her head, "Forget it, I don't want to know. But you're sure it's down there?"

"He's extracting them from the veil that was at the Ministry of Magic," Cole answered, leaving her with no doubt as to who 'he' was.

"Curse it." She looked sharply at Cole, "Will you help get it back?"

"Who do you take me for, Paige? The Source of All Evil?" his reply was sarcastic. "Yeah, I'll help, if only for Harry's sake."

"Fine, just don't put him in danger like that again. I'm leaving." Without another word, she stalked off.

"Good riddance," Cole muttered under his breath, half jokingly.

"I heard that!" Paige called from a few paces away.

Cole hastily ducked inside the doors of the castle, closing them securely behind him.

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"Come on, Ron. We steamrolled them last time. Will you quit worrying? Tomorrow's match will be just as good as the first one. There's nothing wrong with your goalkeeping skills."

"Yes there is," Ron moaned, "Have you been watching me at practice today? I'm a horrible keeper. Why don't you kick me off the team already and put McLaggen back on."

"No," Harry stopped him. "You're the best seeker I tried out, Ron. Your only problem is nerves."

They'd reached the second floor landing, Ron trailing miserably behind Harry who tried his best to cheer him up. Turning a corner, they came upon a couple lip-locked in a tender kiss.

"Oi!" Ron's eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he saw who they were. "That's my sister you're snogging!"

The startled pair sprang apart as if they'd been scorched, Ginny looking flushed and on the verge of losing her balance when a hand reached out to steady her.

Chris smiled and put an arm around her shoulders before turning his gaze to meet Harry's and Ron's.

"Hey look, you!" Ron was furious. "I don't want to find my own sister going around snogging people in public!"

Ron's rage was only checked by Harry's restraining arm, even though Harry, just as much, wanted to let Chris have it. Unbidden, an ugly monster reared its head inside him, making his blood boil. Jealousy seethed and simmered in his veins and clouded his vision.

Chris's green eyes flashed angrily and he was about to open his mouth to defend Ginny when she placed a hand on his arm. "Chris, just go, please?" She turned to scowl at Ron, "I want a word with my dear brother!"

"You sure?" Chris asked her softly.

"Yeah, I'll see you later, ok?"

Chris tightened his hold around her for a second, and then he left, Ron staring open-mouthed after him. Shaking himself out of his stupor, Ron rounded on Ginny. "What do you think you're doing? You can't go around –"

"Shut up, Ron! You're just jealous because you haven't snogged anybody yet. Harry's snogged Cho! And Hermione's snogged Krum! You're the only one who has to take it out on everybody else because you're feeling left out. Now leave me alone. I actually like the guy and I don't need you telling me what to do!"

Harry felt a sinking sensation swoop through him as he heard Ginny say this, but one look at Ron convinced him now's not the time to confront his own feelings. With great difficulty he finally managed to tow Ron towards the Gryffindor dormitory while Ginny stormed off elsewhere.

Ron was still muttering viciously under his breath when they arrived in the common room. Harry let go of him and sank an armchair by the fire, leaning forward to put his head in his hands. Between the events of this evening and earlier in the week, not to mention his yet uncompleted assignment to retrieve Slughorn's memory and his own feelings to contend with, Harry was starting to feel the onset of a pounding headache.

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"Well?" Voldemort ran a bony hand over his wand, his snakelike eyes fixated upon the young demon standing in front of him. She was a pretty little thing, dark hair falling loosely about her shoulders and a lithe figure that encompassed both power and grace.

"I…I have not yet been able to gather much information from them, my lord." She bowed her head.

Voldemort let out a growl of frustration. "I was willing to forgive your family for harboring that secret in exchange for your help in this matter. But it turns out that you are not much use at all." His wand arm was suddenly out, the point of his wand directed straight at her.

She stared back at him unflinchingly. "I need more time. I have to get close to them… gain their trust first."

"Tell me," he was back to circling her slowly, "How do I trust you when your family has kept this secret from the Source for five years? You've been at Hogwarts since year one!" His wand tip was now pointed under her chin. "You knew of the wizarding world before anyone else did, yet you chose to not reveal this."

"We had our own purposes for not doing so. You know we only do as we are hired to. Besides," her tone was defiant, "You won't kill me. You still need me."

His hand closed around her throat, nails digging in and drawing little droplets of blood. "Do not get cheeky with me, girl." He released her and sneered, "Slipping in under Dumbledore's nose was well enough, but sorted into Gryffindor…that doesn't sit too well with me. You haven't forgotten your future, have you?"

For the first time her eyes showed a glimmer of fear, but it wasn't Voldemort she was afraid of. "No." She drew a shaky breath, "It won't happen that way, my lord." She scrambled to find an explanation, "I asked the sorting hat to put me in Gryffindor, so I can get closer to Harry and Chris."

"Ah. Of course you did," His eyes seemed to pierce through her. "The younger Halliwell, then, since he's in your year. Can you lure him? That shouldn't prove to be too difficult, for you."

She hesitated, but then replied, "There's another girl, one of the Weasleys." He waited for her to continue. She swallowed, "She won't be a problem, though."

The Source leaned in close and hissed, "Very well. See that you do not fail me…phoenix."

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A/N: I would love some feedback for this chapter. Drop me a review and let me know how you guys want this to play out, as I haven't quite decided yet :-)


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